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Throughout history, the division of language has created problems with communicating between two people their needs, wants, desires, and sometimes their emergencies. In today's world, where there are so many languages spoken, how can an emergency call center operate when there are callers who don't speak English needing assistance? Many 9-1-1 centers have turned to using third party assistance in the form of a language line, where the 9-1-1 operator will add another person on the call to help provide translation services, but there are always downsides to this. Join us this week as we discuss the use of these third party language lines and how they impact operations.

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You dial 9-1-1 and are connected with an operator. You explain your situation and are informed help will be on the way. The minutes tick by and no police, fire, or EMS arrive on scene; have you been shortchanged? Did you call get cancelled accidentally? The most likely scenario is that your call was determined to be not as emergent as another call going on in the city. But why has this happened? This week we discuss the concept behind prioritization of emergency calls.

As always, if you have any questions or comments on the show, or you would like to connect with us, please send us an email to LifeLine911Podcast@gmail.com.

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We all know that working in the field as a police officer, firefighter, or medic is an extremely challenging career that is entirely different than most other jobs; getting time off is hard, there are unexpected calls which force you to work passed you off duty time, holidays and celebrations are going to be missed. But even more challenging than this is to be married to someone who does this work; the stress and anxiety faced by the spouse of a first responder is known by few others. On this week's episode, we have on guest Tommi Garrison, who is a wife of one such first responder to share her story.

As always, if you have any questions or comments on the show, or you would like to connect with us, please send us an email to LifeLine911Podcast@gmail.com.

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Along the Gulf Coast, there is a county in Texas named Calhoun which recently went through a PSAP consolidation, joining the police department with the sheriff's office for 9-1-1 response. Patrick Schubert was tasked with heading-up these efforts and guiding his fledging PSAP through the gulf hurricane and inclement weather that the coast can experience. Patrick was also awarded Telecommunicator of the Year in 2022 for his lifesaving work with a citizen needing CPR. His efforts and work are just one of many stories of excellent deeds which happen on a daily basis in the world of first responders.

As always, if you have any questions or comments on the show, or you would like to connect with us, please send us an email to LifeLine911Podcast@gmail.com.

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In the last dozen years, law enforcement has had to contend with a new type of incident: Swatting. These types of calls involve someone making a false call to 9-1-1 in order to have police respond in force to fictitious events to either scare, harass, or sometimes even kill an unsuspecting victim. While it is illegal, and it does at the very least waste law enforcement resources which would better be spent elsewhere, the true danger of these calls is the harm they can do to both their victims and the officers responding. Join your host Erica as we delve into the effects of Swatting.

As always, if you have any questions or comments on the show, or you would like to connect with us, please send us an email to LifeLine911Podcast@gmail.com.

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In all professions and aspects of life, there are rules which are unwritten in any manual but they are known to all. These are enforced by the collective unspoken agreements between coworkers on how many matters are to be handled: is there a lot of talking between co-workers, or is it quiet; are there potlucks every third Monday of the month; do you get to work right on the dot, or a bit early? Each of these are generally not in a policy manual written by management, but they are nevertheless essential to keeping an organization running smoothly. Join us this week as we discuss the reasoning behind these peer accountability rules.

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A critical part of ensuring that your team of emergency operators is capable of succeeding no matter the event which occurs is to take the time to perform period quality assurance on them. The goal is not only to find the faults with the call takers and dispatchers so that small errors and bad habits can be rectified, but also to find praiseworthy moments and highlight them. Join your host Erica as we discuss the vital importance of performing quality assurance on your emergency telecommunicators.

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Complaints on any job are commonplace across all industries, but they can be especially difficult to deal with in the world of emergency telecommunications. Oftentimes, those making the complaints can have suffered traumatic events which make them react differently to conversations than they normally would and to get irate more easily. However, it is the job of a public servant to do their best to serve the public and we will share with you some of the insights we have gained over our careers with how best to handle complaints from citizens.

As always, if you have any questions or comments on the show, or you would like to connect with us, please send us an email to LifeLine911Podcast@gmail.com.

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