Communications officers must determine level of urgency in a matter of seconds

Paramedic call takers and dispatchers honoured this week

To get a taste of what paramedic dispatchers and call-takers do, I was given the chance to answer a simulated call at the Ottawa Paramedic Service. When asked what scenario I wanted to try, I opted for “woman giving birth.”

Struggling to navigate three computers and the hysterical screams of the pregnant woman (a communications training officer) on the line, I began sweating, stuttering and losing the ability to type properly. The baby was “successfully delivered.” It was chaos.

National public safety telecommunicators week, which runs until Saturday, honours the “first” first responders, or ambulance communications officers (ACOs) as they’re officially called. This year, the Ottawa Paramedic Service is showing appreciation by shedding light on a job that doesn’t get much attention.

“People remember the people that were physically there. They don’t remember who was originally there for them,” acting paramedic commander Molly Kline said.

Call takers and dispatchers at the Ottawa Central Ambulance Communications Centre (CACC) cover medical emergencies in Ottawa, Cornwall, Prescott, Russell, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry counties. The call centre takes more than 170,000 calls per year. During an average 12-hour shift, an ACO takes roughly 50 calls. Paramedics, by comparison, usually respond to around six calls a day.

“The dispatcher has to be able to change gears very fast many times a day,” says communications training officer Jennifer Roussel. “Whoever is talking to you is having one of the worst moments of their life. The person taking the call is exposed to that several times a day.”

Not only must call takers confirm basic information like the caller’s address and nature of the emergency, they must also determine the level of urgency of each call — all in a matter of seconds.

Trainees go through an 18-month training program to reach communications officer status. New recruits attend a sevenweek certification program before entering the live environment where they are mentored. Needing no previous medical experience, ACOs come from a variety of backgrounds.

Trainee Kristen Bell-Lalonde worked in Ottawa summer camps before starting ACO training in January. Her mentor, Joanne Murphy, was a paramedic before she started working as an ACO 10 years ago.

On-the-job learning never ends. In addition to new rules and regulations which all ACO staff must become familiar with, they also have to learn to manage the emotional and mental stress associated with the position.

“If this job is going to affect your personal life, either in a negative or positive way, you kind of realize before you come in. They do a very good job of showing you what you’re getting into before it becomes real,” Bell-Lalonde says.

“You definitely have calls that stick with you for your whole life,” Murphy says. “Some are positive. It’s not all negative.”