Dispatch must think

[InSane1]

I'm a fricken Moron. MAN... I never thought I picked up such bad radio habits being in the office. I used to monitor our base chanel and run DL & WTS.... Now for calls.. I feel like I'm expecting them to know what I want. I hate tieing up the air and I generally try to say 10-4 or copy... or Send it... but everytime I do they send me another call on top of that one.. and it's starting to drive me nuts. I need to figure out prioritizing them when they end up holding two calls for me because no one else wants them drives me INSANE.... Changing chanels from base to county.. grrrrr.. AND THEN.. remembering to turn on my fricken radio everytime I get out of the squad...

I'm frustrated with myself. Although.. I don't sound as much like a dumb *** as I did my first day alone...still... I wish I had the fluency. Today..... Uggg. today was a so-so day on the radio. I know my officers really don't want to do certain calls and expect me to answer up to them.. but damn it.... sometimes it drives me NUTS!

Today I was reluctant to take medicals because I didn't have O2, so I didn't want to be the first one on scene. RIGHT at shift change we HAD to go and get a medical.. and it was a 2 YO having a seizure... I have ZILCH experience on these things.. so I expect them to show me. it sux being the FNG. During my week of training we had NO medical calls.. so I'm sorta on my own with this....grrrr...

so seizures.. what the hell can I do other then WAIT until the paramedics get there??????

ANYONE???

[Deputy Joe]

Yeah, that's about it.
Make sure the patient won't run into anything.
Find out how long the seizure has been going on.
Ask stuff that the medics might need to know.
Onset, what happened when it started. Prior history. Medications, allergies, last meal, etc.
Monitor the patients condition. Don't forget to grab your mask. I did that once and the patient stopped breathing. The other drunk people didn't like it when I ran back to the squad to grab my mask.

[InSane1]

thanks Met... <3

[deputy37]

well, Dispatching is what pays the bills for me, and being a Deputy is my reward...

Don't worry so much about how you're doing on the radio... you're *trying* which is more than alot. There are cops who are so lazy on the radio, or have NO professionalism, or who don't listen to what the others are doing (hmm... 805 & 809 headed to a domestic in progress with weapons? Think I'll run some defects... )
Have you befriended one of the more-well-respected dispatchers? I know for me/us, the newbies who think they know it all and are rude to us get thrown to the wolves awfully quickly... but the ones who are genuine and *ask* rather than tell... we'll take care of them, and have them call in if something is screwed up or misunderstood or traffic is given wrong on the air... Bascially if you're a Bambi, if you treat me with respect and kindness, I'll TAKE CARE of you. If you are rude and arrogant... look out bubba...

As far as the medical calls, as a Deputy I don't have to respond, but as a Dispatcher, I'm EMD-ing until *someone* gets there. For a 2 yo w/ seizure (really common--high fever) It's more about keeping the parents busy and making them *think* they are helping... get meds together, have someone put the emergency flashers on in a car,lock the dog up in another room etc. The ONLY thing you do for seizures is move them away from things that might hurt them, don't hold them down etc. You do have to keep an eye on breathing, and be *ready* to perform CPR if breathing. stops... but... do you have to respond to every medical call? If so you should be first responder trained. If you're not, that's a big liabilty suit waiting to happen... (not to mention how helpless you feel )

[InSane1]

I am first responder cert. But that doesn't matter if the only real training has been done on people who aren't really hurt. So I'm just absorbing. Thanks Guys.