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 through and negotiated a day off and an extra shift. The rumors have swirled, and no one has really told me where the wheel came off. I really had expected it before now. This employee was really overly chummy with some of the officers, and seemed confident in their own work even when it was less than quality. They even went as far as saying that I had told them to do something a certain way, which is not even my way and I would never have suggested it be done that way. At one point I was going over some issues with their work habits and they broke down and went off about how they are tired of everyone picking on them. I wanted to say, your new, you don't know it all, we are trying to correct your flaws. But I left it at that and figured every day was possibly their last.
Tonight started like every other, well not really, I had just taken the helm and sat down when the 911 line rang, it was a simple miss dial call.
The next call was for a cheater who had showed up at her ex boyfriend's house wanting to make amends, he wasn't interested in it, and she continued to knock on his door for a while before he finally opened it upset. He just wanted her removed.
The 3rd call I took couldn't have been more off than it was reported. This call made me doubt callers more than anything. The caller was reporting an accident, he had the driver of the vehicle in with him, and he didn't appear to want an ambulance or be hurt. He said they would wait there for officers. I asked about the mechanism of the accident, asking if the vehicle had rolled over. The caller didn't elude to the vehicle having been rolled over, maybe he didn't know? But when the officers arrived they made a point to tell me the vehicle had rolled over, and the male was wanting an ambulance and complaining of neck pain. The ambulance arrived within minutes. The next several hours I spent second guessing myself, that I trusted a caller. Often our officers, and responders do not understand that what we get is not always what is given.
Earlier this week I had a report of a semi truck in the ditch, another caller reported it as a jack knife with a driver that appeared to be passed out at the steering wheel. The officers arrived on scene and determined the driver was fine, and had just been trying to turn around and got off the roadway into the soft shoulder and got stuck.
In reality we will never get the entire picture of any situation, but I guess we should prepare for the worst and send the highest response, and down grade if needed.
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 through and negotiated a day off and an extra shift. The rumors have swirled, and no one has really told me where the wheel came off. I really had expected it before now. This employee was really overly chummy with some of the officers, and seemed confident in their own work even when it was less than quality. They even went as far as saying that I had told them to do something a certain way, which is not even my way and I would never have suggested it be done that way. At one point I was going over some issues with their work habits and they broke down and went off about how they are tired of everyone picking on them. I wanted to say, your new, you don't know it all, we are trying to correct your flaws. But I left it at that and figured every day was possibly their last.
Tonight started like every other, well not really, I had just taken the helm and sat down when the 911 line rang, it was a simple miss dial call.
The next call was for a cheater who had showed up at her ex boyfriend's house wanting to make amends, he wasn't interested in it, and she continued to knock on his door for a while before he finally opened it upset. He just wanted her removed.
The 3rd call I took couldn't have been more off than it was reported. This call made me doubt callers more than anything. The caller was reporting an accident, he had the driver of the vehicle in with him, and he didn't appear to want an ambulance or be hurt. He said they would wait there for officers. I asked about the mechanism of the accident, asking if the vehicle had rolled over. The caller didn't elude to the vehicle having been rolled over, maybe he didn't know? But when the officers arrived they made a point to tell me the vehicle had rolled over, and the male was wanting an ambulance and complaining of neck pain. The ambulance arrived within minutes. The next several hours I spent second guessing myself, that I trusted a caller. Often our officers, and responders do not understand that what we get is not always what is given.
Earlier this week I had a report of a semi truck in the ditch, another caller reported it as a jack knife with a driver that appeared to be passed out at the steering wheel. The officers arrived on scene and determined the driver was fine, and had just been trying to turn around and got off the roadway into the soft shoulder and got stuck.
In reality we will never get the entire picture of any situation, but I guess we should prepare for the worst and send the highest response, and down grade if needed.