Telecommunicator

Emergency Services TelecommunicatorThis critical role serves as the vital communications link between public requests for help and a timely response by emergency services. The candidate must be able to work independently in a high-stress environment while receiving and evaluating incoming emergency and administrative requests for emergency services. These services include but are not limited to fire and emergency medical services (EMS), triaging those requests for service, providing guidance and assistance to the public in life-safety situations, and coordinating appropriate responses to high risk, high-stress operations, with the objective of keeping all participants safe.The starting salary for the Telecommunicator position is $21.29/hr. Once the employee successfully completes the full training program (average time period is 7-12 months) and is released from probation, hourly pay increases to $22.36/hr. The normal schedule generates 8 hours of built-in overtime per pay period, and provides every other Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Night shift schedules earn an additional 5% per hour.Minimum qualifications include graduation from high school or possession of a GED Certificate; possession of a valid Florida Driver's License; ability to work on a rotating schedule including nights, weekends, holidays to ensure 24/7 staffing; and willingness to be called back and held over to maintain minimum staffing 24/7.Additional requirements for some positions include no illegal drug use within the past 36 months or after 30 years of age, no illegal drug sale, no felony convictions or misdemeanor convictions involving perjury, false statement, or domestic violence, meeting all medical, physical, and psychological requirements, and obtaining within the probationary period certification in First Aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Public Safety Telecommunicator (PST), and International Academy of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) Fire and Medical.A 6 month to 1-year probationary period is required for all new hires and employees new to the department. New hires must complete the Hillsborough County Telecommunicator Trainee program and pass the State of Florida Public Safety Telecommunicator test and the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch Fire and Medical certification to complete probation successfully.Core competencies include customer commitment, dedication to professionalism and integrity, organizational excellence, and success through teamwork. Job specific competencies include ability to establish and maintain cooperative and professional working relationships, use logic, critical thinking, and reasoning to reach conclusions and solve problems, adhere to policy and procedure requirements, working knowledge of Windows-based software and various other computerized electronic, telecommunications equipment, communicate clearly, concisely, and effectively, skill in compiling and analyzing operational data and preparing and maintaining accurate records, skill in being dependable, self-motivated and team orientated, problem solving in dynamic situations, friendly and tactful personality, ability to follow instructions, spell correctly, and write clearly, ability to learn quickly and retain public safety and technology training materials, patience and resilience, and maintain regular, reliable, and punctual attendance.Physical requirements include frequent sedentary work; constant use of a computer, constant overall vision; constant color perception, constant eye-hand coordination; constant depth perception; frequent reading/close-up work; constant field of vision/peripheral, frequent repetitive motion and reaching; foot and hand coordination, constant requirement to hear normal speech; constant hearing on telephone and radio; ability to hear faint sounds; constant talking on telephone/radio, potential telephone contact with hostile individuals; exposure to emergency situations; may be exposed to trauma, grief, and death; frequent public contact; decision-making and concentration.Work category is sedentary work - exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally, and all other sedentary criteria are met.Representative duties include applying training and policies to screen requests for emergency services, answering them professionally, recognizing if a call is received from telephone, text, video, or an automated feed, providing pre-arrival and post-dispatch instructions to those requiring assistance during high-stress situations such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), childbirth, hemorrhaging, active shooter, and entrapments, ascertaining incident information from multiple sources to determine the nature of the incident and provide information to emergency services either verbally and/or digitally, using training and operational protocols to relay critical information, dispatch resources and initiate emergency response services, or referring callers to other agencies, conducting health and safety status checks of emergency responders and ensure on-scene responders' safety, demonstrating clear and effective communications with active listening, call control, good judgement, and professional respect with callers that range from calm to panicked, using TDD and relay services to comply with standards for handling calls from hearing impaired callers, utilizing language interpretation services, using text to 9-1-1 to communicate effectively with callers, interpreting caller location by using geographic knowledge, tools, and location tracking capabilities when available, maintaining communications during life-threatening emergencies, providing safety/lifesaving instructions, and maintaining control of the conversation until field units arrive on scene, documenting the incident details quickly and accurately to establish incident urgency, categorize the incident types, and obtain the proper help for the caller, relaying initial information for dispatch accurately, reviewing the call for service details, and assuming incident command until first responders arrive on scene, facilitating the transfer of calls to appropriate resources and performing conference calls with entities, such as but not limited to BLS providers, poison control centers or helicopter dispatch, operating multiple systems and conversations simultaneously while minimizing mistakes, maintaining a calm demeanor under chaotic and stressful circumstances, multiple conversations, and frequently noisy environments, completing training, certifications, recertifications and competencies as required for the Public Safety Telecommunicator position and completing continuing education and career development as assigned, using provided debriefing tools, stress management techniques and critical incident response to deal with mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances, reading and interpreting geographical spatial data and maps quickly and accurately, being resilient and resourceful while coordinating high-risk, high-stress operations, with the primary objective of keeping all participants safe, using judgement and decision-making skills to rapidly evaluate situations, establish priorities, resolve matters, and pass on information, as needed, and performing other related duties as required.In the event of an emergency or disaster, an employee may be required to respond promptly to duties and responsibilities as assigned by the employee's department, the County's Office of Emergency Management, or County Administration. Such assignments may be for before, during or after the emergency/disaster.