newbie

Hi all! I'm new to posting here but I've been lurking awhile. I work as a police, fire, ems dispatcher for a small comm center in western Washington. It'll be fun to chat with other dispatcher's and see what I'm missing from bigger centers.

Welcome Sarita!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is nice to have you here... there really are a great bunch of ladies here (no men have surfaced so far, that I have seen) Even if hide and seek is their favorite games these days It is a great group... I work in a small center too, emergency, non emergeny, county slave as it were ( we page everyone from road crews, to sheriff, to detectives, to district justices, to whomever anyone needs) there are about 120,000 in the county.. we don't see alot of action, but is sure can be interesting at times!!! I hope you enjoy your stay with us... Brianna

Welcome!!!!! Good to have you on board!!! Paula Chicago 911

Sarita, Good to have you aboard! I'm still kinda new here also, but I've worked for a few dispatch centers (Beaverton PD in Oregon, San Diego Sheriff's, San Diego DoD, and now DoD at Camp Lejeune in NC)... I love when it's busy and loved the larger centers I've worked at but there isn't as much bs here, so it's a toss up... lol! We do Police, Fire and EMS here... Where in Washington are ya??? Sheryl 395/217/178 8/22/2002

I'm in the NW corner of Washington...kinda reluctant to say where exactly because we're such a small community and I just hate running into ppl at the store who know more about me than I think they do ..... We run with only 1 person on about 8 hours a day and then 2 ppl on the rest of the day (when there's someone available to work) ...and of course we are short-handed. There are only 7 of us left and one of those is a working supervisor. They're dropping like flies around here! We're supposed to be getting some new hires here pretty soon...but who knows how long those will last. =0

I understand not wanting to tell the department... no biggy.. Good luck with the newbies, it'll be nice when they're all trained. Take care and try to breathe once in a while!!! Sheryl

Welcome Sarita! I'm almost a stones throw away from you. LOL - well, okay, maybe a little further. I'm in southern Oregon. I know how you feel about being in a small town. I started out dispatching in a small town much like you so I know how you feel about revealing too much. I struggle with it even now, but hell, my life is pretty much an open book at this point so I guess I have passed the point of caring. I loved working in a smaller center, but now that I am with state police I am pretty happy too. I do like the busier atmosphere, but we still have our down time. So is your area floating away too? I think we're on the downswing with the weather though....at least I hope so. When you dispatch a large geographical area it starts to wear on you with road closures and fatals and all. Nice to have you here and I look forward to getting to know you! Dina

We have had a few flood watches but so far no major damage around here. I really do like working for a small agency...we are all pretty close and good friends outside of work. Only thing about that is we can't all go do anything together 'cause that leaves no one in charge of the county. One thing about a small county....when I first started I was in a grocery store and this lady heard me talking to my husband...she came up to me and introduced herself as a scanner listener ....she actually recognized my voice and approached me in the store...kinda weird. It's doubly weird for me cause my husband is a corrections officer and when certain ppl (ex-inmates...) realize that it can be awkward...it's like a little light turns on when they hear my last name and they're thinking "ahh-ha!"

Hi Sarita, I'm also a police, fire, ems, dispatcher in a small town. We work alone in our comm center, only 1 dispatcher per shift. It's okay except on those nights when all hell breaks loose an I'm supposed to grow 4 more arms, six more ears, and a couple more mouths lol. We're also responsible for public works calls and anything that has to be referred to the county or state DOT. I'm on midnights and it usually pretty slow, but lately we've had a lot of motorcycle gang activity which is pretty scary. I live in the same town where I work and I'm a little freaked out by the influx of pagans we've seen lately. I'm planning on becoming a cop or a co as soon as I get the weight off. The le exam is this summer and I will be well on my way to goal by then.I love being a dispatcher, it's the only job I've ever really loved, but I'm ready to take the next step in my career now. I've always wanted to be a cop or a co, but my weight has held me back. I think I'm finally going to be able to do this. Carol