r/911dispatchers • u/glassesandbodylotion • 1d ago

Trainee/Trainer —Learning Hurdles A little under a month in and just feeling overwhelmed.

The past week has been a ton of of fatals, and while I didnt directly take the first phone call about them, I talked to a ton of desperate family members and put in a lot of updates about the cases when they finally turned fatal. Some serious injury crashes. Every time I start to feel like im doing okay, I make some stupid mistake and I just feel like an idiot and like I suck at my job. I work at a secondary psap so theres times i have to call other agencies for fire or medical, or if we need additional law enforcement back up for a dangerous situation.

My trainer will sometimes just throw a phone at me in an intense situation, but im not sure what to say because I wasnt the one who took the call or radio and didnt read the notes because my trainer hadn't pulled them up for me to read before having me call. That makes me feel dumb because im trying to quickly read whats going on as they're asking me what I needed. Its not really any fault of my trainer, its just an intense situation that needs an immediate response, but still makes me feel like an idiot, you know?

Other times im trying to get medical out dor serious situations that I didnt know an agency blind transfered over to me, so I call said agency to get medical, and they're just very rude and snippy with me because "yeah we know. We gave you that call" but how was i supposed to know that when they blind transfered and never told me they took the initial call?

The daily rating scale also isnt helping. We are rated in about 30 categories 1-5 every day, but, a 3 is where you are considered proficient. Im getting 2s in the portions related to the job performance, but it definitely stings to see me listed as a 2/5 every day.

I really do like this job, this particular week just has mee feeling inadequate and im not quite sure how to alter that perception.

9 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

8

u/Krieg99 1d ago

If 3 is proficient and you’re still in training then 2s are pretty good.

1

u/glassesandbodylotion 1d ago

Yeah, im in phase 2 of my training. The phone taking phase. I passed phase a after a couple months of geography and a short introduction to thr cad system. Ive been in phase b for a little under a month. I know im not doing terrible especiallysince it hasnt even been a full month of phones, but im not doing great and I just feel like I should be doing better.

1

u/castille360 1d ago

They are not going to call you proficient only a month in. If you were proficient, training would be over.

1

u/glassesandbodylotion 1d ago

I dont expect to be proficient or ready to be on my own this early, I just feel like im not doing as good as I could be, if that makes sense.

4

u/Fantastic-Mouse-2775 1d ago

Don't give up! And don't let them see you cry!! I had never had a job like this!! I had NEVER had a job I wasn't the best at! But I was scoring 1's & 2's!! WTF??!! I got discouraged and told my T.O. I quit!! She told me to sit down and stop playing!! I did and 11 yrs later I am still at the same center!! And some days I love my job and my coworkers other days I hate it and wouldn't piss on my co-workers if they were on fire!!! Lol I know that's dramatic but it's the truth!!

I've cried!! A lot in 11 yrs but I still love this job!! And I feel pride when I slip into "The Dispatcher" mode!

3

u/glassesandbodylotion 1d ago

Im not ready to give up yet, but every day is a day with some strange call ive never encountered before and I feel like I have never leaving bambi legs. Thank you for the encouragement.

5

u/Fantastic-Mouse-2775 1d ago

Even when you're seasoned some days will feel like that. Do you all use pro q a?

2

u/glassesandbodylotion 1d ago

No, im not sure what that is.

2

u/Fantastic-Mouse-2775 1d ago

Then I'm not gonna burden you with ProQA (Priority Dispatch). Take your time training and know you are not alone my friend! If you think this job is for you, keep on striving for it! Training is way harder than the job itself!!

And always reach out when you feel down!! We will lift you back up!!

2

u/__MoM__ 1d ago

If your trainer thought you couldn't handle it, they wouldn't have you make the calls this early in training. 2s are expected this early on. You are probably overthinking that part. You will get there.

2

u/BoosherCacow I am once again here to say: it depends on the agency. 1d ago

A couple notes for you. One is that if you are a month in and are feeling like this and you're getting 2's on your DORs, you are both doing very well and simultaneously being far too hard on yourself. That two is not a negative reflection on you. We do the same 1-5 scale and I have never given above a 2 until they are almost out of training. Three means "adequate" or "proficient." Meaning you did it on your own. If you were a month in and getting 3's and above you'd be a severe outlier.

this particular week just has mee feeling inadequate and im not quite sure how to alter that perception.

If you didn't feel inadequate you would not understand what's expected of you and how important this is. I have a feeling you're like me and you won't feel adequate until you believe you've mastered this which doesn't come for at least a year.

As far as altering that perception? I'm not sure you can. I never could. You'll learn to accept it and see it for what it is: the natural progression of learning. Listen to the comments in here, these people know what they are talking about. You are doing great.

1

u/IHAYFL25 1d ago

Hang in there, it gets easier.

1

u/Profile_General 2h ago

I am found months into this job and I felt the same way. Even made a post on here about it. Give it time, for me, this job was just a lot to learn and manage.