roeems87

Let me tell ya a few things about them bastard dispatchers.....I know a little bit.
First off - it sucks. But it is OK too...
It is a GOOD living, but obviously not as "fun" or "glorious" as our police, fire, and even EMS counterparts.
The BIGGEST thing I have noticied in over 15 years "in the chair" is that EVERYONE in the field thinks they could do it better, or things could be done different. Everyone in a uniform has IDEALS, but dispatchers have PROTOCOLS. For the most part the voice ont he radio doesnt make those protocol, but we are bound to adhere to them. So if you get angry or frustrated - direct that to the policy makers, not the person on the other end of the radio.
We get it from every direction...and speaking from MY job, literally everyone is our superioir...I am the #5 on my job senority wise..I been around, yet even the newest, junior cop or fireman tells me what to do...but that is part of MY job...other agencies are different..they have a more structured, Dispatch Command..we are under the authority of the Police Watch Commander and FD Shift Commander...yet there is still a small army of Sergeants, Liuetenant, Captains, Chiefs, and Deputy Chiefs that can change it all with a simple command...
EVERY shift is run different - under the direction of the Watch Commander..so if you are like me, and work OT on different shifts..you had BETTER do i tTHAT bosses way..
You guys get to SEE your jurasdiction every day - you know it intimately..hell I been working in our City for 12 years and I dont know ALOT of the streets,..Yes, I know what police post they are on, who to send, and even what fire truck is first due - but I have been "lost" on the southside of our city as recently as last week..we dont get out to see it enough, if at all. Sure maps, and CAD are nice - but there is no subsitute for actual street time. Some agencies make "ride time" a part of training - and thats awesome.
"They dont give us enough info.." Yep...true. But we give you all of what we can get from our callers - which in an urban setting like mine - sometimes is just an address...if I had a dollar for everytime a caller said - "just send the M F'ing cops/Ambulance" I could retire to the Keys with George..LOL. And if we give alot of info - we are met with "headquarters - get off the air.." There is NO happy median it seems sometimes.
Dont get me wrong - I am NOT defending all dispatchers - I have worked with some real turds...but thankfully, for the most part - we weed them out. Not all...but alot..this job is not for everyone.
I will openly admit that this is NOT what I pictured myself doing...well, it is not what I wanted to do..anyone who knows me knows I should be on a firetruck for 40 hours a week, but I do not regret it one bit. I have a good life and make good money...I can support my family well, we own a house, 2 cars, and a dog...the American Dream, right? I am heads and shoulders above where my parents where at my age. I stay cool in the summer, warm in the winter, park in a secure parking agarge, and can surf Bravo for 8 hours a day. For that I am very thankful.
One of the things I cherish the most about my job is RESPECT. The guys on the other side of the radio - be it police or fire, appreciate me and the job I do..I take care of "my guys"..they know when the crap hits the fan in a foot pursuit that I am right there with them, and help is on the way. I know how the FD operates and usually have what the Captain requests done or ready to be done. I do my job well, because lives of cops and firemen depend on it. I have actually been written up for two commendations by Fire Lieutenants after tough, hectic, SCARY jobs for my actions in assisting them...both times they were denied because, "he is just a dispatcher...". Who cares....it's the RESPECT from those guys that mean more to me than ANY peice of paper signed by the Mayor.
So yeah, dispatching sucks..but it pays the bills. And I know that there are a few guys out there that know we really DO make a difference. So cut us some slack...or take the test and get "in the chair."

There is always a danger in labeling entire groups by the actions of a few. Those in emergency services should know that better then anyone. The media always sensationalizes that linkage. Look at the following examples. Anyone think they are representative of us in general? Below are three examples for each profession. They are all recent and took about 2 minutes to retrieve. My point is, I don't think any of these individuals below truly represent us as a whole? Do you? However, it's going to be these winners who make the news and provide a basis for the public to form a general opinion of us. An opinion that may take a very long time to correct.
Police:
(Child sex videos) http://www.northjersey.com/news/020311_Investigators_Paterson_police_officer_arrested_on_child_pornography_charges.html
(Perjury) http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18249280
(Aggravated Assault w/a Weapon) http://www.bradenton.com/2011/08/19/3432206/palmetto-police-officer-arrested.html
Career Firefighters:
(Pulling a gun on his wife and threatening to kill her, her young son and her mother) http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/San-Antonio-firefighter-arrested-for-4th-time/5lX4n77wIESvk5jjG7FPVg.cspx
(Drug Possession) http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/119493154.html
(Rape) http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18113753?source=rss
Volunteer Firefighters:
(Arson) http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/pa-firefighter-arrested-arson-charge
(Rape) http://www.kxii.com/news/headlines/Firefighter_arrested_for_rape_in_Bryan_Co_114396884.html
(Rape) http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/150970/158/Volunteer-Firefighter-Charged-With-Raping-A-Juvenile
EMS:
(Child sex video) http://www.kold.com/story/13200230/benson-paramedic-arrested-on-child-p***-charges?redirected=true
(Sexual Assault) http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-paramedic-arrest,0,1856877.story
(Prescription Fraud) http://www.stategazette.com/story/1755849.html
And on a somewhat unrelated note, here are a few links/examples of Muslims in the U.S. Military who died fighting for us.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/hsmkhan.htm
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12607625
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/krkhan.htm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-393878/First-British-Muslim-soldier-killed-war-terror.html (British Military)
There might be legitimate concerns about the intentions of some Muslims, but again, many on this forum are painting them with a pretty broad brush.
And, while going down this slippery slope, should we discuss those who have committed atrocities in the name of Christianity? People like Timothy McVeigh, Anders Behring Breivik in Norway, Eric Robert Rudolph who purport to use Christianity as rational for their crimes don't represent the other 99.9999% of Christians, do they? I suspect they do not.

So by some peoples thinking here every Muslim is part of Al-Qaeda, so then by that reason every Italian is in the Mafia; every Irish person is a drunk; every Mexican is a border jumper.

If that is the train of thought some of you have? I find that very embarrassing that people in 2011 think this way. Yes I understand their beliefs and there way of life, and I am sure there are many that follow the religion but do not follow Sharia law. How many of you are Roman Catholic and how many of you follow the Ten Commandments.

This is a ridiculous blanket statement, and this along with comparing the Muslim brotherhood to the vast majority of Muslims shows that you have only a vague and/or slanted understanding of Islam.
Look, I agree that the rules are the rules and that no one, regardless of their religious practices, should be exempt from rules that are designed simply to keep them safe. Its obvious that head coverings of the kind at issue here would be dangerous on a number of rides in the park as they could become caught in tracks, etc. And I agree that the event organizers, having been informed of these rules, didn't do a very good job of communicating this to event goers ahead of time. You'll get no argument from me that this is largely to blame for this incident occurring in the first place. But I also know from accounts of people who were there (and no one has mentioned this possibility so far) that the park rangers involved in the initial altercation didn't do a very good job of diffusing the situation. It's mentioned in one of the articles cited here that they pushed some of the women who confronted them which, unless they truly felt threatened (and come on, seriously?), just seems like a really bad idea. Putting your hands on a woman in a confrontational way in front of her husband or any male relative would surely escalate any situation regardless of the religious persuasions of those involved. Oh and by the way, those rangers are totally fine.
Long and short? I'm saying that there's blame to be placed pretty equally on both sides of this situation. And chalking this up as some kind of anti-American Islamic riot or an attempt to impose Sharia law in the US is just completely absurd. It was the unfortunate result of poor planning and poor communication, nothing more. This could have happened with a Jewish group, a Sikh group, or anyone else who's religious beliefs happened to conflict in any way with park rules. Making this out to be the fault of Muslim "animals" trying to take over our country as many of you have just makes you sound like close-minded buffoons. Sorry, but it's the truth. Should we blindly adopt some of their more out-dated (and little-followed) views as our own without questioning them? Absolutely not. But should we, by the same token, write off all their beliefs as "savage" and demand that they give them up without first questioning that logic? Absolutely not. A little cultural sensitivity isn't the same as being stupidly "PC" and a little worldly education goes a long way in averting this kind of incident.
Bring on the hate, I know it's coming.

Here's another suggestion. Keep doing it until we get it right. When my high angle team trained, we did a scenario, got reamed out, changed up the players and ran it again. We never made the same mistakes twice, we made brand new ones and about the 4th time we ran it, it was fast and pretty.
My beef with every MCI drill I've been a part of is that the planners set up something way too complicated, it goes to hell in a basket and in wrap up we say, well, we learned something. How about smaller incidents and plan on working the scenario start to finish until we see what getting it right looks like?

I can't believe people are shocked at the Henry family being pissed at this. Lose a child and see how reasonable you become. The family is pissed and will always be pissed. Their kid did something stupid and got himself killed. This wasn't a malicious or pre-meditated attack on Officer Hess. So the family has to come to grips with that. They have no villain or clear reason to hold on to and explain the loss of their child. Any number of things happen differently that night, Officer Hess never has to kill anyone, he never gets his leg broken, and DJ goes home alive.
Wait, so we're expecting the Henry family to essentially say, "Thanks for shooting my son and saving us the stress and burden of a wrongful death suit in the event that he might have stuck and killed someone that night."
The DOJ will eventually exonerate Aaron of wrong doing, he should enjoy his award, and we should write off the Henry's claims as irrational and the result of emotional trauma.

"...and who cares?..." Lots of us do, apparently. In the fire service response times are crucial. That is why they are tracked and recorded. It's simply not good enough to say, "we do the best we can", or "these times aren't exact", "what's the big deal?", etc. It is a big deal. SECONDS COUNT. If we can improve response times, we will save lives and property. What is more important than that, someone's feelings?? QTIP.