Nationwide 911 dispatcher shortage hits Stanislaus County
STANISLAUS COUNTY - Stanislaus County is facing a critical shortage of 911 dispatchers. County officials there hope a $90,000 allocation to the agency will help recruitment efforts.
Inside the Stanislaus Regional 911 dispatch center, the staff is cool, calm and collected. They have to be when speaking with people in crisis.
"We are answering the phone, giving life-saving instructions immediately before anyone is able to arrive on scene," said Kasey Young, Executive Director Stanislaus Regional 911.
But now, those working on this side of the phone need some saving.
"We have been anywhere between 30 to 40% vacancy rate at times," Young said.
Right now, Stanislaus Regional 911 has 21 deployable staff members with 15 dispatchers and call-takers currently in training.
Five others are on-boarding, but that leaves them with 45 open positions they need to fill.
"We were at a point where we were only getting one day off and they were having to work back to back," Young said.
Some of them work 12 to 18 hours per day, some of them six days a week and taking a break during shifts can even be challenging.
"There's no break between answering the call. It's call after call after call," Young said.
But their call may have been answered. Stanislaus County and the city of Modesto received an approved $90,000 allocation for retention and recruitment of new staff.
Young notes the dispatcher shortage is nationwide, with some agencies forced to outsource their calls.
They're not there yet, but the industry faces a PR problem.
"Dispatchers are currently classified as administrative staff or secretaries in that category," Young said.
That means they lose out on some of the pay and benefits first responders get.
"We need to start bringing dispatchers alongside first responders with comparable pay and benefits," Young said.
"Their function is invaluable to the sustainability of a safe community, where people have someone on the other end of the phone to answer their urgent calls during times of crisis & distress," the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with SR911 as they work to address their staffing shortages."
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office says they too are grappling with a critical shortage of dispatchers.