Communications Center Training

Public Safety Telecommunicators are the link between every crisis and every first responder. They are an essential part of a demanding and fulfilling career that involves critical thinking and decision making skills. Due to the high demand expected, our public safety telecommunicators go through an extensive training program.

Our comprehensive training program lasts approximately 10 months.

Training begins with a 7-week academic phase that has been approved through the Florida Department of Health in conjunction with Florida State Statute 401.465. Upon completion of this phase, new employees will have gained certifications in Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD), CPR, NIMS IS100LeB, NIMS IS200, NIMS IS317, NIMS IS700, FDLE CJIS, and certification of completion of the state approved 9-1-1 Public Safety Telecommunicator Academic program.

Once a telecommunicator has successfully completed the 9-1-1 Public Safety Telecommunicator Academic Course, they are assigned to an APCO certified Communications Training Officer (CTO) for the remainder of their first level of training. This level, Level I, encompasses 600 hours of training in regards to dealing with administrative phone lines, which can range from alarm calls to animal control calls to most non-emergency calls for service. The trainee is also instructed on handling 9-1-1 emergency calls. The last area of instruction deals with the teletype system, which is a nationwide database of wants, warrants and other inquiries. When a telecommunicator trainee successfully completes this training they may be advanced to the second tier of training.

When advanced to Level II, a telecommunicator trainee is still assigned to a CTO. This area of training is 300 hours in length and will follow law enforcement or a fire/EMS path. This level for the law enforcement side encompasses learning the basics of radio etiquette, receiving inquiries from law enforcement units via radio regarding wants and warrants checks and miscellaneous administrative requests such as notifications of on-call investigators, wrecker calls, etc. This level for the fire/EMS side encompasses learning the basics of radio etiquette and handling the units responding to fire/EMS scenes. When a telecommunicator trainee successfully completes this training they may be advanced to the third and final tier of training.

The last level of training in our Career Development Program is Level III and encompasses 460 hours of training. The trainee is still assigned to a CTO and will learn all aspects of handling the primary radios either on the fire/EMS or the law enforcement side.

PRESENT WORKING SCHEDULE

Academic phase: Monday – Friday 8:00am – 4:30pm
Shift assignments are 12-hour shifts: 6:00am – 6:00pm or 6:00pm – 6:00am
Example of work days for a 2-week period from Saturday – Friday