During this past Christmas shopping season, a Buffalo, N.Y., mom turned back to the bolts of the red-balloon-bedecked flannel in the center ring of a local craft store just as her 4-year-old daughter was turning a pint-sized shopping cart the toddler had pestered to push “all by myself” into a battering ram.
Although turnover is usually measured in a human resources (HR) setting, it is advantageous for communications managers to understand how to evaluate its impact. More importantly, communications managers should understand the implications in regards to the budget, training, scheduling, morale, and meeting the demands of the organization’s goals.
Reasons
Studies indicate a national turnover rate between 17%–19% in telecommunications. In other words, two out of every 10 telecommunicators leave the profession each year. A telecommunicator’s career averages two to three years.
In police calltaking, safety is our No. 1 priority and the central focus of our higher commitment to excellence. The Police Priority Dispatch System™ (PPDS®) provides several specific instructions and pathways to address the issue of safety, whether regarding the safety of an officer, a caller, or the general public. This article will discuss, in particular, Pre-Arrival Instruction (PAI) Protocol C: Caller In Danger (CID) and the Post-Dispatch Instructions (PDIs) on that protocol.
Think snow—360 inches of snow to be exact. Snow the height of a 30-story building and people with shovels, snow blowers, and snowplows buzzing around like gnats to get rid of the snow before the next storm arrives. Think of signing off your CAD, climbing a ladder, and shoveling the snow off the roof of your communication center, being careful not to cover the police chief’s official car.
Now you can picture Valdez, Alaska.
But Lorrie Mott and William Comer don’t just think about it. They live it.
During this past Christmas shopping season, a Buffalo, N.Y., mom turned back to the bolts of the red-balloon-bedecked flannel in the center ring of a local craft store just as her 4-year-old daughter was turning a pint-sized shopping cart the toddler had pestered to push “all by myself” into a battering ram.
In police calltaking, safety is our No. 1 priority and the central focus of our higher commitment to excellence. The Police Priority Dispatch System™ (PPDS®) provides several specific instructions and pathways to address the issue of safety, whether regarding the safety of an officer, a caller, or the general public. This article will discuss, in particular, Pre-Arrival Instruction (PAI) Protocol C: Caller In Danger (CID) and the Post-Dispatch Instructions (PDIs) on that protocol. 
