INDUSTRY NEWS
SIDEBAR:
Kellogg Pulls TV Commercial Found Insulting to Dispatchers
A recent television commercial for "Kellogg's Complete" cereal raised the ire of many public safety dispatchers. It depicted two firefighters talking - one of them claims the other is starting to look like a dispatcher because he hasn't been eating right or exercising. At the end of the commercial, the other firefighter holds a bowl with a donut and milk - prompting the first firefighter to say "what are you going to do with that?" The other replies, "Give it to the dispatcher!" The two laugh as the commercial fades out.
Ronald Sequin, a dispatcher in Quebec, Canada, alerted a dispatch group on the Internet to the offensive tone of the commercial, which prompted many to voice their anger to Kellogg. Most felt the commercial demeaned dispatchers by characterizing all emergency telecommunicators as being overweight, and ridiculing those who are. "I am seriously offended by your blanket indictment of dispatchers as out of shape, fat people," wrote Chet Swanson, a Washington dispatcher, in an e-mail message to Kellogg. "If you, or members of your family or company ever need emergency help, just remember who is it that you will be calling when you call 9-1-1. It isn't the firefighter or the police officer who answers your emergency call. It is a caring and professional dispatcher who does a tough job, with little reward and almost no recognition."
"The tone of this commercial is insensitive and insulting to professional dispatchers who are the cornerstone of any community's public safety and emergency response network," wrote Randall Larson, editor of 9-1-1 Magazine. "There are as many dispatchers who are in shape as there are dispatchers who are out of shape - just as there are police officers, firefighters, TV repairmen, and cereal company executives."
"We are outraged at your cereal ad showing two firefighters ridiculing a dispatcher's weight," wrote Alan Chase on behalf of all APCO members, demanding the company pull the ad and apologize to the nation's dispatchers. "A dispatcher doesn't run through the streets, climb fences [or] carry people out of burning buildings. None of what a dispatcher does relates to muscles and body fat. While it, of course, is unhealthy in the long run to be fat, a dispatcher performs perfectly well with something hanging over his or her lap."
In response to the tide of complaints, Kellogg pulled the ad within four days. "We certainly did not intend to offend dispatchers," wrote Karen Kafer, Kellogg's Director of Communications in a letter sent to 9-1-1 Magazine, APCO Bulletin and Dispatch Monthly. "Kellogg has long been committed to health and nutrition and the intent of the commercial was to encourage healthier eating habits. Because concerned professionals, like your members, took the time to share their views, we re-evaluated this advertisement and made the decision today to no longer air the commercial. You may see the same characters in another commercial in the future, but we want to assure you that the content will be changed significantly. We apologize for offending dispatchers and salute the important role this profession plays in saving lives on a daily basis."
According to Alan Burton of Dispatch Monthly, Kelloggs was "particularly impressed with the demeanor and professionalism shown by the dispatchers, police officers, and firefighters who have called them. Previous complaints have apparently been accompanied by ranting and raving. The dispatchers (et al) have been understanding and rational."
By late May, the dispatcher references in the commercial had indeed been stricken. However, at least one version of the commercial has been shown with the initial dispatcher reference deleted, and the pastry at the end being offered to the "rookies" instead of the dispatcher. "While we are off the hook," noted Barry Furey, Knox County, TN, Communications Manager, "it seems like all probationary firefighters have become the target."
Want To Know Anything About 9-1-1? Check Out This Web-Site
If you've got Internet access and haven't surfed on over to the Dispatch Monthly website, you really should. Rather that simply archiving articles from the magazine, publisher Alan Burton and editor Gary Allen have assembled a wealth of facts and information about public safety operations and technology. From the home page, you can access folders dealing with the history of 9-1-1, trends in public safety, links to trainers and consultants, news updates on technology and legislative groups affecting public safety dispatching. A great new section is called "Dispatcher Call Scenarios," which takes a trainee through several simulated 9-1-1 calls - presented one statement at a time, with a prompt for the trainee's next question as they process the practice call.
Take some time and explore the DM website at: www.911dispatch.com.
AOL's Dispatch Chat
While we're on the topic of online communication, dispatchers with access to AOL may be interested in joining a live Dispatch Chat taking place every Monday night, 5-7PM PST.
Administered by Linda Olmstead, a dispatch supervisor with the California Highway Patrol in Monterey, Dispatch Chat is available through AOL's Public Safety Center Conference "room."
"We invite dispatchers from all public safety disciplines," said Olmstead. "We also appreciate positive, insightful input from field personnel. Their comments on our given topic are welcomed and appreciated (unless they have some ax to grind about a dispatcher!)."
If you're an AOL member, select Keyword PSC and then click on the Conference Center icon. For non-AOL members, Olmstead offers the log from each week's chat session by e-mail. Zap her a few bytes at: gryeyes@redshift.com
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Defibrillator On Duty Imagine that your boss' wife just had a heart attack, and it's up to you to save her. Rockaway Township (New Jersey) Police Officer Walt Ardin knows that feeling. "I was only about a block away when we got the 9-1-1 call from Deputy Chief Daley that his wife had just gone into cardiac arrest." Ardin arrived on the scene to find Audrey Daley unconscious in the living room, without a pulse. Fortunately, Ardin had some help. Rockaway Township is one of only a few towns whose police department is equipped with a portable defibrillator. When a person goes into cardiac arrest, the rhythm of the heart is disrupted, and the pumping chambers flutter uselessly in a condition known as ventricular defibrillation. A defibrillator is designed to send out an electrical signal that can jolt the heart back to normal rhythm. The key to the success of the defibrillator is timing. The American Heart Association estimates that every minute delayed in returning the heart to its normal pattern of beating decreases the person's chance of survival by 10%. Essentially, a person's fate is decided within 10 minutes of the attack. Ardin arrived on scene about 7 minutes from the time Daley had the attack, and was able to successfully resuscitate his boss's wife. "Everything was just right for us to use the machine," Ardin said. Ardin is a hero in this story, but not the only one. For about a year, fellow patrolman and EMT Jan Monrad worked on getting the defibrillator for the department's Emergency Services Unit. While everyone agreed it was a good idea, it became clear that there was not enough money in the department's budget. So Monrad took to the streets, soliciting $5700 in donations from local businesses and volunteer groups to purchase the life-saving machine. Medical experts are working on ways to make defibrillators cheaper and easier to use, someday making it possible to place them in office buildings, airports, sports arenas, shopping malls. For now, Patrolman Walt Ardin is just glad that there is one in his town. |
