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Training Program
Once an applicant has made it through the hiring process and is given a start date, the hard work begins. At Northwest Central Dispatch, we strive to provide the best training on a continual basis throughout the telecommunicator’s career. The training begins on the very 1st day of work.
- The first three days are spent in a classroom setting. The Telecommunicator or TC is given basic instruction on the history of NWCDS, rules, benefits, timekeeping, the training procedure, the Command Point CAD system, NWCDS member departments and other items.
- After the classroom training is completed, the TC is then assigned to a Training Officer and will now spend the next eight weeks on call taking. This is known as Phase I training.
- Once the TC has demonstrated some proficiency and improvement in Phase I, the TC then moves to Phase II training. This training will focus on the first specialty that the TC will learn – either police dispatching or fire dispatching. Most of the time, the TC will be assigned to a different Training Officer and will possibly have to change to a different shift. Training in Phase II will last a minimum of twelve weeks but could last as long as sixteen to twenty-four weeks depending on the TC’s improvement and confidence.
- If the TC is progressing and showing continual improvement in Phase II, the TC will then move to Phase III training. This is known as the Shadow Monitoring Phase. This means the Training Officer will be constantly monitoring the TC on call-taking and radio dispatching but will be physically separated from the TC. The Training Officer sits at a completely different position in the communications center but still has full access to the radio and the phone. The TC now has the feeling of working on his/her own but the Training Officer is still there to guide and assist them if needed. This Phase will last a minimum of four weeks but can be extended if the need is there.
Once the Telecommunicator has completed the Phase I, II and III training, they are considered “counted” in the shift totals and will now work on their own. Each TC is not expected to know everything especially after just being “counted” but is expected to continue to learn and grow their knowledge throughout their career.
Before the TC reaches their third year anniversary from the date they were “counted”, they will return to training with a Training Officer for the Cross Training Phase. The Cross Training Phase lasts a minimum of eight weeks. This Phase allows the TC to learn the other specialty (police or fire dispatching) that they did not learn in the original training. The TC and Training Officer have the same responsibilities as they do in Phase II and Phase III training.
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