Recruiting 911 dispatchers in Hennepin County

(FOX 9) - In an emergency, every second counts. And when faced with an emergency, the last thing anyone wants is to be put on hold when calling 911. Now, we're getting a look at the recruitment efforts to get more dispatchers on the phone in Hennepin County.

Jesse Duerksen, who has been answering calls for Hennepin County’s 911 center for more than four years, admits, "it’s scary at first. There’s no doubt about that... multitasking is something we need to make sure everyone has the ability to do."

The task of staying calm for callers in crisis is no easy feat. "My worst week, I had three kids die. It stands out. It’s difficult and they were all separate situations," said Hennepin County 911 Center Director Tony Martin.

Despite the vital role dispatchers play and the rewards of helping save lives, interest in working in dispatch centers is waning. Tony Martin, a director, estimates that roughly 20% of the population could excel in this line of work, but half of those are already employed elsewhere.

(FOX 9)

Ty Wooten, the Director of Government Affairs for the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, calls attention to a new report revealing long hours, difficult schedules, and pay as the main reasons for increasing vacancies at 911 centers. "We are at a crisis point. We have found on average in our survey, we saw 25% of positions are open. We have a number of centers that were reporting well over 50% -- that is critical," he shares.

In Hennepin County, the vacancy rate is hovering between 20 percent to 25 percent.

In response, recruiters are thinking outside the box. One strategy encourages reaching out to the gaming community, as gamers often possess skills such as speed, decisiveness, and potentially customer service, making them strong potential candidates.

In Minnesota, the Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Communication Networks division, in partnership with the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, has launched a campaign to attract new recruits. Martin says average pay ranges between $22 to $44 per hour and he's starting pay at $28 an hour just to stay competitive. Despite that, there remain 91 vacant dispatcher positions in the metro area alone.