Hmm...

Well... aside from being a ham operator for over 10 years now and helping lots with public events in that capacity, this will be my 7th year dispatching seasonally for Burning Man.

Professionally... I'm a communications technician and currently doing remedial drive-testing work for Cingular Wireless. I'm hoping they hire me permanently, since I was meant for much more than this.

I hold off doing my 'heavy' dispatching until Burning Man once a year... mainly due to my tendancy to 'overload' at times. I know Joseph and Damon have both seen smoke coming out of my ears some days when I'm behind the mic.

-greg- aka -comm1-

What I do: Right now, a little of everything. My last job was a 911 operator/police and fire dispatcher for Springfield-Greene County 911 in Springfield, MO. At the end of December I moved to Muskego, WI (just outside Milwaukee), to start a new job as a supervisor for new 911 center being built to service Waukesha County, WI, which is the county just west of Milwaukee. Construction is more or less complete, so we're in the set-up phase, which is what I mean when I say I do a little of everything. I've been running cable under computer floor, I've been assembling furniture, writing and editing SOP's, etc.

I've been in this field for six and a half years now.

started life as a dispatcher for the local Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Spent 10 years in the organization. About the same time I became an Auxiliary Firefighter with FDNYs Auxiliary Fire Corps. Moved up to Aux Lieutenant and held that rank til I was hired as a specialized Firefighter working in the Fire Insurance Salvage field in 1996. I actually sat and passed the FDNY Fire Alarm Dispatcher exam. Due to not wanting a $10k/year pay cut to start, I turned down the interview four times. Im not an active dispatcher anymore, but I still remember that DISPATCHERS TELL THE WORLD WHERE TO GO ;)

I'm thinking late is better than never, so.... My name is Elisabeth, but my workers know me as Dekalb County; I'm an emergency dispatcher for the sheriff's office. I've been running the radios, phones, 911 terminal, and the county jail (for 8 hours at a time) for almost three years now.
On an interesting note, if you happened to see in the news about the two twisters that touched down in my county May 29th, it happened on my shift. There were actually twelve twisters in all, including one F4. Which brings me to the next topic - what happened on your craziest shift?

OK, the straight-up me, more or less. Been Position 1 at the Oregon Country Fair's Fair Central (9-1-1 equivalent for the event) since there was color in my hair (15+ years). The OCF is an annual three-day arts and crafts festival with 40,000+ members of the public passing through our gates each year. Fair Central coordinates fire, medical, security, traffic, etc. which is quite similar to herding cats since we have 4.5 paid employees and literally thousands of volunteers including many who have never held a two-way in their hands before that weekend.

I also became a dispatcher for Burning Man's Department of Public Works in '03 and was manager of same last year and, gods (and godesses) willing, will continue as such.

I came close to being a real-life 91-1 dispatcher in '03, made it to the final 14 from an original field of 250 applicants, wasn't hired cuz I "failed" the psychological (a whole 'nother story in and of itself, 'specially since the background investiation person left a message for me saying, "I never say this to applicants but you have WONDERFUL friends." On the brighter side, my nights and weekends continue to be my own and I'm free to work/play at the Fair and Buring Man.

I have utmost respect and admiration for those of you who do this work real-time. You're unsung heroes and to show you just how much I appreciate you and what you do, I WON'T sing - it would damage your headphones *and* your hearing.

Gameshow (on the Burning Man playa)
Silver Fox, Poodle, Domino's Delivers, Prince of Darkness, and a host of others at OCF
Palmer elsewhere

Well, since this post has been brought back from the dead, I'll do my part to keep it alive.

I work for McPherson County Communications in (duh) McPherson County Kansas. We dispatch SO, FD, EMS, PD, Red Cross, Emergency Management, etc for the entire county. We also answer and dispatch 911 calls as well as a 24 hr CrimeStoppers phone.

We run three 8 hr shifts with a min. of two dispatchers on duty at a time, three at full staff. We occasionally bring in a fourth during bad storms (tornados, and the like.)

We have conventional and trunked radio systems used by various agencies. They are supposed to all be tied together next year (I've been hearing that since I started.)

We do not have CAD yet, but we are getting that next year as well (see last paragraph...)

I have worked here on the night shift for over two and a half years. It is my first dispatching gig. I did have some experience in radio at a local station.

That's me in a nutshell....