County 911 Center launching dispatcher education partnership with Career & Training Center

Lancaster County’s 911 communications center and the Lancaster County Career & Technology Center are cooperating to make it quicker and easier for people to train as dispatchers.

It’s a great opportunity for the CTC and the county alike, 911 Assistant Operations Manager Sara Sloat told the county Salary Board at its July 8 meeting.

The arrangement is set to start this fall. Under it, students in the CTC’s protective services cadet class who are interested in dispatcher careers will be able to start part-time at the 911 center as trainees while still in school.

To do so, they must go through the Emergency Telecommunicator Course at the CTC, pass a test and complete an interview. To be eligible, they must have 95% attendance and a 3.5 GPA, Sloat said.

As trainees, they will receive on-the-job training for about four hours a week over six weeks. They will then be eligible for hiring after graduation, based on the county’s needs.

The 911 Communications Center already hires a lot of CTC protective services graduates; this will streamline the process of bringing them on board and training them and make their transition easier, Sloat said.

The Salary Board was asked to do its part by reclassifying four positions as part-time Telecommunicator Trainee positions, at a starting wage of $15 per hour, which it did.

Conditions have changed at the 911 Center since 2017, when turnover was high and Lancaster County paid dispatchers less than any neighboring county. Among other things, the county has overhauled its pay system, raising starting wages for dispatchers from $12.67 then to $20.51 now. Just eight of the 95 positions at the Countywide Communications Center are currently unfilled, county spokesman Michael Fitzpatrick said.

The new training program is thus not about remedying a current shortage, he said, but “ensuring the next generation of first responders are prepared and trained to handle the critical job of keeping the county safe.”

Ensuring a pipeline of new hires has been an ongoing concern for the emergency response sector nationwide — police and fire departments, emergency medical services and 911 dispatch centers. Last year, a study of 911 centers (PDF) conducted on behalf of the National Emergency Number Association found that 82% reported being understaffed and 74% said staff burnout is a concern.

(Editor’s Note: This article was updated Monday to provide the correct current starting wage for dispatchers.)