Credit: County of Bucks
The dispatchers who operate Bucks County 9-1-1’s system put in long hours doing what can be at times intense, stressful, and rewarding work.
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CBS 3 reporter Alicia Roberts recently profiled the problem Bucks County is having hiring new dispatchers to fill the critical jobs. The station reported one in five Bucks County dispatcher jobs are open.
Nationwide, there has been a years-long recruiting problem getting dispatchers, and Bucks County is seeing that problem first hand.
“This is not an industry where there is a surplus of people,” Bucks County Director of Emergency Communications John Geib told CBS 3.
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Bucks County has stepped up efforts to fill the 25 vacant positions at the 9-1-1 center in Ivyland Borough.
The county’s dispatcher jobs are well-paid and offer benefits, including a health insurance and a pension. Job listings are posted on the county website.
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In 2020, county dispatchers received about 763,000 calls and dispatched 528,000 calls to police, firefighters, medics, and other emergency responders.
The county’s emergency communications operation was established in 1963 and has grown over the years, adding computer-aided dispatch in the 1980s. The county has about 125 staffers in the emergency communications center. The center serves about 130 emergency service agencies within the county.
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