In Review

BECOME A 911 DISPATCHER
Richard L. Callen
Career Publishing Inc., P O Box 5486, Orange CA 92667
1996, 140 pages, paperback. $15.99 + shipping

Richard L. Callen is Captain of Planning and Public Safety for the City of Avalon, on California's Catalina Island. Callen has taken his 30 years experience in public safety, much of it training public safety dispatchers, and created this comprehensive career guide to emergency service dispatching. Starting out with an overview of the field, Callen outlines job responsibilities and the kind of interaction that occurs between the dispatcher, the agency, and the general public. Callen describes job opportunities, gives an easy-to-understand overview of radios, computers and other toys (unique public safety terminology is defined in the margins throughout the book), and tells how to prepare for the job, how to get hired, and what to expect on the job.

Each chapter includes a quiz, and suggestions for class discussions, making the book a ideal learning tool for student groups. The spiral-bound book is nicely illustrated and easy to read.

9-1-1 - THE EXCEPTIONAL TRAINER
Sue Pivetta
Professional Pride 1812 Pease Av., Sumner, WA 98390
1996, 185 pages, paperback, 25.00.

At last, a no-nonsense guide for emergency communications trainers. Sue Pivetta emphasizes how communications training programs have to start from a basic understanding of adult learning styles and adult teaching techniques. "In a profession like emergency communications, where it's impossible to train for each and every situation a new person may face," she writes, "it is essential we design our training programs to turn out critical thinkers. Too often we bulldoze information at our trainees, expecting them to process and retain, without any real method of evaluating their learning."

With an easy going, unassuming, and fun-to-read style, embellished by thought-provoking quotations both sublime and likably ridiculous, Sue lays out a cornucopia of food for thought.
This book should be considered an essential guide for all public safety communication centers that are committed to training - and that ought to be each and every one of them.

INNOVATIONS IN DISASTER AND TRAUMA PSYCHOLOGY
Vol. 1: Applications in Emergency Services and Disaster Response
Edited by George S. Everly, Jr.
Chevron Publ. Co., 5018 Dorsey Hall Dr., #104, Ellicott City, MD 21042
1995, 252 pages, paperback, $29.00

A presentation of solutions "in the field of disaster and trauma psychology as they may be applied to emergency service personnel," this compendium presents fifteen essays on such topics as Traumatic Stress - Its Nature and Impact, Innovations in Program Development, and Innovations in Intervention. It's thick, thorough reading, but a valuable entry into the growing library of critical incident stress research.

As Everly writes in his introduction, "emergency services stress as a subject of the field of disaster and trauma psychology has finally come of age. It is the purpose of this volume to assist in its continued maturation through a presentation of innovations in phenomenology, program development, and specific intervention protocols." With crisis intervention becoming an automatic component of disasters and major localized incidents, books like this will go a long way to help organize an effective CISM program.



	BECOME A 911 DISPATCHER Richard L. Callen Career Publishing Inc., P O Box 5486, Orange CA 92667 1996, 140 pages, paperback. $15.99 + shipping Richard L. Callen is Captain of Planning and Public Safety for the City of Avalon, on California's Catalina Island. Callen has taken his 30 years experience in public safety, much of it training public safety dispatchers, and created this comprehensive career guide to emergency service dispatching. Starting out with an overview of the field, Callen outlines job responsibilities and the kind of interaction that occurs between the dispatcher, the agency, and the general public. Callen describes job opportunities, gives an easy-to-understand overview of radios, computers and other toys (unique public safety terminology is defined in the margins throughout the book), and tells how to prepare for the job, how to get hired, and what to expect on the job. Each chapter includes a quiz, and suggestions for class discussions, making the book a ideal learning tool for student groups. The spiral-bound book is nicely illustrated and easy to read.

	9-1-1 - THE EXCEPTIONAL TRAINER Sue Pivetta Professional Pride 1812 Pease Av., Sumner, WA 98390 1996, 185 pages, paperback, 25.00. At last, a no-nonsense guide for emergency communications trainers. Sue Pivetta emphasizes how communications training programs have to start from a basic understanding of adult learning styles and adult teaching techniques. "In a profession like emergency communications, where it's impossible to train for each and every situation a new person may face," she writes, "it is essential we design our training programs to turn out critical thinkers. Too often we bulldoze information at our trainees, expecting them to process and retain, without any real method of evaluating their learning." With an easy going, unassuming, and fun-to-read style, embellished by thought-provoking quotations both sublime and likably ridiculous, Sue lays out a cornucopia of food for thought. This book should be considered an essential guide for all public safety communication centers that are committed to training - and that ought to be each and every one of them.

	INNOVATIONS IN DISASTER AND TRAUMA PSYCHOLOGY Vol. 1: Applications in Emergency Services and Disaster Response Edited by George S. Everly, Jr. Chevron Publ. Co., 5018 Dorsey Hall Dr., #104, Ellicott City, MD 21042 1995, 252 pages, paperback, $29.00 A presentation of solutions "in the field of disaster and trauma psychology as they may be applied to emergency service personnel," this compendium presents fifteen essays on such topics as Traumatic Stress - Its Nature and Impact, Innovations in Program Development, and Innovations in Intervention. It's thick, thorough reading, but a valuable entry into the growing library of critical incident stress research. As Everly writes in his introduction, "emergency services stress as a subject of the field of disaster and trauma psychology has finally come of age. It is the purpose of this volume to assist in its continued maturation through a presentation of innovations in phenomenology, program development, and specific intervention protocols." With crisis intervention becoming an automatic component of disasters and major localized incidents, books like this will go a long way to help organize an effective CISM program.