Skip to main content

Annoying quirks that come with the job.

Where do you think dispatch thinks you are if you don't radio in during the whole shift?

Where am I supposed to think you are if you haven't radio'ed in all shift? I know it is pretty much given, but if you don't call yourself out on a location when interacting with dangerous criminals, I don't know to check on you. I don't have an accurate record of the time you showed up on scene which you might need later for a court document.

I know I could ramble on forever about silly things, but on to the better things!

Everyone has those annoying parts of their job, and then their are those parts you just love or that you enjoy.

First off, I am the rookie still, by age and seniority. I always feel good about myself when I get a call from another agency asking how they do something. I get a good feeling knowing that the more experienced folks ask me for my help. Not that I always can help. I have had issues myself and found the help files, or the "cheat sheets" from the last time someone updated the training files. I started out with very little training. The typical dispatch trainee gets about 1 month of training with our agency. I was advanced, not sure what that means, but I was by myself in a week and a half. I won't say I didn't have to call someone to ask questions, or that I was perfect. But they wanted me to try going solo and I did. I can say I was nervous as heck on that day. When you lose your crutch for support it is an unsteady feeling, but I made it just fine.

I think we all get where we rely on something a little too much and then when we lose it we just don't know how to handle it. For example we have that morning cup of coffee daily, and then one day we realize we are out of coffee and go without. Our body feels bad all day, we blame everything on coffee instead of our own addiction to the stuff.

Popular posts from this blog

Days back

I wrote this several days ago, maybe weeks, I am behind putting them up so there might be several days blasted with updates and blogs which are longer. When did I book the trip on this insane train? I was enjoying some computer games when I heard some thunder . Shortly after that it began to rain, I mean POUR! I am hearing radio traffic like crazy, police, city crews, sheriff's department, Department of Transportation, WATER IS EVERYWHERE, and the highways are even impassable and are close to traffic. 1 hour later, I get a call from work, They need me in for a transfer of a critical patient, and we are taking a nurse. I tell them I will do my best to get there. My street has a few places where water is running over the road, I go a few blocks and then find more water. I have never seen this much water standing and moving, at least not here! There is a stress you have to deal with in this situation, you have to worry your vehicle will be carried by the water as you go through the wa...

The LZ

ATV's can be dangerous, as I have found out through a few calls. We are dispatched for an ATV accident, we go to the location, which is a few miles from the road. My partner takes off and goes down, while I get the truck turned around and try to get things setup for her. She calls back for me to radio for a helicopter. In just a few minutes she knew we needed a chopper. I called for a chopper telling dispatch to go ahead and dispatch a rescue crew to setup an LZ for us, since the fire department was already on scene with us assisting. The male was riding with a young girl on the back, they had went down into a creek, and then on the way out, the four wheeler front end lifted up, he was able to throw the younger girl off, but he wasn't able to clear himself from the path, as it fell backwards onto him. He was partially in the creek and underneath the large ATV. He was cold, and pale, he looked like he was dead, and his respirations were shallow, all the primary signs of...

Downward Spiral

The past month has started a rapid downward spiral, not totally on me.  I thought things were going good, we were almost to the point of being fully staffed, it was kind of exciting.  And then IT happened.  One of the rather new rookies had a bad day, I mean it was bad, but not terrible.  They fumbled, they struggled, but they made it out at the end of the day, as well as everyone they sent.  But they complained that it was a terrible day and they were not coming back.  The next day was a new day, they showed up.  They did the job they were paid to, the one they were hired for, and went on with the day like the day before had not been any issue.  Then it happened I was off and got a message to call in when I had a chance.  I called in and the supervisor informed me that the employee had quit and was no longer on the schedule so it would affect the entire schedule.  I was asked if I could take any other shifts, I reluctantly drudged thr...