In Review

Emergency Radio: Lifeline to Responders
Training Video
30 minutes. $59.00
Professional Pride, 1812 Pease Av., Sumner WA 98390
800/830-8228 email propride@aol.com

9-1-1 call-taking is one half of public safety communications, radio dispatching is the other. Sue Pivetta's video, Emergency Radio: Lifeline to Responders, is an excellent follow-up to her previous Call Receiver: The Heart of Emergency Communications, both of which provide superior introductory training for new dispatchers.

"The fundamental theory of emergency radio is clear communications," the video reports. "There will be times when the radio frequency seems like chaos. It is the responsibility of the radio dispatcher to control and discipline the air." Just as the 9-1-1 calltaker must control a conversation to evaluate and determine the correct response needed, the radio dispatcher must control the frequency in order to manage the dispatch of calls, the processing of field-generated radio traffic, and maintain officer safety. Learn how here.

Consistent with Sue's 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Manual, this video provides an overview of radio basics (clarity and brevity) and message delivery (consistency, air time, information, speed). Officer Safety issues are stressed - things like requiring an acknowledgment on all transmissions, avoiding a careless use of the term, "standby," the need to develop procedures for restricting the air during emergency traffic, and others. An extended section on handling pursuits provides some excellent basics for the new dispatcher, as do seven important Guidelines for Professionalism.

Concluding with three vastly important points for all dispatchers (understand our role in public safety emergency response, strive for continual peak performance, continually look for improvement in the ways we do things), this video makes a good foundation upon which to build a training program, as well as an effective supplement to existing training.

The Spanish Guide for Emergency 9-1-1 Dispatchers
Brian W. Hamning
NPPS of Illinois, P O Box 5362, Woodridge, IL 60517
54 Pages, spiral-bound. $29.95 + $3.00 s&h
email: bhamning@accesschicago.net

Police dispatcher Brian W. Hamning has put together a guidebook of phrases that may help dispatchers evaluate emergency calls from Spanish speaking callers. While most 9-1-1 PSAPs have access to a translation service of one kind or another, not all do and not all lines may be transferable. The Spanish Guide is intended to help dispatchers process calls when translators are not available. Probably the most useful section of the book is the introduction, intended to aid in call evaluation. Here, Hamning offers a number of Spanish statements to help locate an English speaker in proximity to the caller and, if that's not possible, determine at least the nature of the problem. More thorough questions are offered for each of a dozen call types, each question accompanied by a pronunciation guide - although how the non-Spanish speaking dispatcher is going to understand the caller's response to these questions is not addressed. Obviously, access to a translation service is the preferred way of handling Spanish (and other non-English) speaking callers; but if a translator is not available, Hamning's guide may at least help a dispatcher through the initial evaluation of a call and steer them toward sending the right equipment to the scene.



	Emergency Radio: Lifeline to Responders Training Video 30 minutes. $59.00 Professional Pride, 1812 Pease Av., Sumner WA 98390 800/830-8228 email propride@aol.com 9-1-1 call-taking is one half of public safety communications, radio dispatching is the other. Sue Pivetta's video, Emergency Radio: Lifeline to Responders, is an excellent follow-up to her previous Call Receiver: The Heart of Emergency Communications, both of which provide superior introductory training for new dispatchers. "The fundamental theory of emergency radio is clear communications," the video reports. "There will be times when the radio frequency seems like chaos. It is the responsibility of the radio dispatcher to control and discipline the air." Just as the 9-1-1 calltaker must control a conversation to evaluate and determine the correct response needed, the radio dispatcher must control the frequency in order to manage the dispatch of calls, the processing of field-generated radio traffic, and maintain officer safety. Learn how here. Consistent with Sue's 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Manual, this video provides an overview of radio basics (clarity and brevity) and message delivery (consistency, air time, information, speed). Officer Safety issues are stressed - things like requiring an acknowledgment on all transmissions, avoiding a careless use of the term, "standby," the need to develop procedures for restricting the air during emergency traffic, and others. An extended section on handling pursuits provides some excellent basics for the new dispatcher, as do seven important Guidelines for Professionalism. Concluding with three vastly important points for all dispatchers (understand our role in public safety emergency response, strive for continual peak performance, continually look for improvement in the ways we do things), this video makes a good foundation upon which to build a training program, as well as an effective supplement to existing training.

	The Spanish Guide for Emergency 9-1-1 Dispatchers Brian W. Hamning NPPS of Illinois, P O Box 5362, Woodridge, IL 60517 54 Pages, spiral-bound. $29.95 + $3.00 s&h email: bhamning@accesschicago.net Police dispatcher Brian W. Hamning has put together a guidebook of phrases that may help dispatchers evaluate emergency calls from Spanish speaking callers. While most 9-1-1 PSAPs have access to a translation service of one kind or another, not all do and not all lines may be transferable. The Spanish Guide is intended to help dispatchers process calls when translators are not available. Probably the most useful section of the book is the introduction, intended to aid in call evaluation. Here, Hamning offers a number of Spanish statements to help locate an English speaker in proximity to the caller and, if that's not possible, determine at least the nature of the problem. More thorough questions are offered for each of a dozen call types, each question accompanied by a pronunciation guide - although how the non-Spanish speaking dispatcher is going to understand the caller's response to these questions is not addressed. Obviously, access to a translation service is the preferred way of handling Spanish (and other non-English) speaking callers; but if a translator is not available, Hamning's guide may at least help a dispatcher through the initial evaluation of a call and steer them toward sending the right equipment to the scene.