Eight Things I Know - Redux

Note: This being National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week, I thought that I'd go back through some of the old posts that I've written in regards to dispatching and post them over again. Some of them you may remember, some of them may be brand new to you, and some of them are almost-new to me as I sure the heck don't remember writing them! Today's post is from Wednesday, June 13th, 2007.

Another good meme has been making its way through the Blogosphere and I was tagged for it by Jamie of Duward Discussion. This one is called "Eight Things I Know" and, from what I can gather, it can be about any eight things that the writer knows.

Jamie's post is excellently written, as always, and has some very good "life lessons" that we could all learn from. Sandee over at Comedy+ also wrote a great post on the eight things she knows and brought to light a lot of really good blogs.

After reading the posts by those two ladies, I wasn't sure what direction to take this in and then decided that since I was on a "dispatch" kick these past few days that I would write about eight things I know when it comes to dispatchers.

Eight Things I Know About Dispatchers (from years of experience!):

1. A dispatcher has the bladder capacity of 5 people
2. A dispatcher can talk on the phone, listen to the radio, and type a request into the computer at the same time without missing anything
3. A dispatcher can tell a 10-minute story over a two-hour time period after many interruptions without losing his or her place; or, he or she can follow a story told in like manner
4. A dispatcher sees stress as a normal state of life
5. A dispatcher refuses to allow anyone to say "Have a quiet shift."
6. A dispatcher views caffeine as one of the major nutritional minerals
7. A dispatcher has answered his or her phone at home at least once with, "911, what is your emergency?"
8. A dispatcher can only tell time with a 24-hour clock, as in, "Yes, I have an appointment at 1430."

As a bonus 9th thing I know about dispatchers - no matter how long ago you stopped being a dispatcher, most of these things will always apply - guaranteed!