Jeff Jackson, dispatcher and emergency medical technician, said his work as a dispatcher lets him be a lifeline for others.

“The most rewarding part of the job is knowing we can be there for that person on the other end of the phone and help them,” he said.

Jackson, 27, who works at Muskogee County EMS, said a dispatcher must be calm in the middle of any crisis.

“The public is not medically trained,” he said. “So, it is the dispatcher’s responsibility to decrease that level of emotional upset. We use something called the Pro-QA program that helps us guide the conversation with the caller.”

Dispatch Supervisor Delsie Lewis said there is a shortage of dispatchers. Qualified personnel are in demand, and the role can be very rewarding.

“One of the most profound things my instructors ever said to me was that every day when we come to work, we’re the answer to someone’s prayer,” she said. “This job is about knowing that you make a difference in people’s lives every day when you come to work.”

EMS also handles non-emergency transport from nursing homes to doctor’s appointments. But their most challenging calls are the emergencies.

“It could be anything from a fall, to bleeding, to cardiac arrest, in which case we can give them instructions in CPR,” Jackson said. “If it’s traumatic injury, we ask them not to move the patient and to wait until the ambulance arrives.”

Jackson, also a dispatch training officer and a quality assurance officer, said emergency dispatchers learn how to juggle several tasks.

“Being a good dispatcher means staying focused and paying attention,” he said. “It means keeping track of all your trucks (ambulances). We run 12 ambulances a day here in our county. We have to make sure the crews are not in any danger. If we can’t communicate with them for 20 minutes when they’re on scene, we send the police to check on them.”

Ambulance crews sometimes enter unpredictable situations, Jackson said, adding to the dispatcher’s need to know what’s going on.

“On scene, they never know what they are walking in on,” he said. “There could be someone on the other side of the door pointing a shotgun at you. In some situations we send in the police first to stabilize the situation before our people go in.”

Lewis said she has experienced a full spectrum of events in her time at the dispatch desk.

“I’ve been on the phone with a new mother and heard her baby’s first cry, and I’ve been on the phone with people when I was the last person they talked to; they were gone by the time the ambulance got there,” she said.

Lewis said there are certain personality traits that make a good dispatcher.

“You’ve got to be able to multi-task,” she said. “You have to listen to the caller, to the radio, to your partner, and keep track. It takes patience, you’ve got to care about people, and you have to keep an even tone on the phone with them.”

Requirements include:

• High school diploma or equivalent.

• Typing skills to handle computerized system.

• Complete the Emergency Medical Dispatch Course prior to employment or within the first three months of employment.

• Complete the Emergency First Responder Course.

• General knowledge of the Muskogee area and ability with maps.



More information

• To sign up for emergency dispatcher training in Muskogee (late June or early July), call Tim Martin with Priority Dispatch Corporation at (800) 363-9127.

• For a job application, either go by 200 Callahan St. during normal business hours or visit www.mcems.us.