‘You have to stay calm’: City of Moncton hiring 911 operators

Moncton is doing a recruitment drive to find more 911 dispatchers.

There’s no such thing as a typical day for 911 Telecommunications Operator Christina Bauckman.

“Every call is different,” said Bauckman. “You treat every call with respect and integrity. The people that are calling in, it’s usually one of their worst days. So you have to be that calm, confident person on the other line.”

Bauckman has been on the job at the 911 call centre for about eight months. The City of Moncton is currently looking for people to join her and the team through a recruitment push.

Eight operators work the phones during 12-hour shifts at the call centre located above a Dieppe, N.B., fire hall.

They’re long days and the staff have to stay on their toes at all times.

“When you pick up that phone you don’t know what’s on the other end. There’s no predicting it. There’s no planning accordingly,” said Bauckman.

Lisa Rouse has been with the 911 centre for 15 years, and is now the operations manager. She said she is very passionate about her job.

“We wear a lot of hats and we wear them all simultaneously sometimes,” said Rouse.

The centre dispatches fire departments for southeast New Brunswick, the Codiac Regional RCMP and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Like Bauckman, Rouse said there really isn’t a typical day so the training needs to be top notch.

“You never know what you’re walking into,” said Rouse. “Every day is different, but with that comes challenges.”

Rouse said one challenges is dealing with uncertainty when you take tough or traumatic calls. Sometimes operators hear from the police or firefighters about the outcome, sometimes they don’t.

“Often times it’s left unsaid,” said Bauckman. “We don’t really know what happens and what the outcome of the call is. So that’s something that you kind of have to be able to deal with.”

Rouse said there is specific training to handle bad calls and sometimes they do hear back from first responders.

“You build relationships with the officers and the fire department,” said Rouse. “Because you spend 12-hour shifts with these people they become your second family.”

She said the hours are another challenge.

“You work weekends. You work nights. You work holidays. We’re here 24-7 so that can be challenging for family life,” said Rouse.

But the operators who care say difficult situations also bring rewards.

“You get to be that calm voice on the other line,” said Bauckman.

Applications can be found on the City of Moncton’s website for anybody who thinks they are well-suited for 911 telecommunications work.

A post-secondary education is not needed for the position, but people interested in applying must be fully bilingual.

Rouse said it’s a very fulfilling career.

“You can have all the training in the world, but a very specific skill set that you need in order to work here is you have to stay calm in the middle of a chaotic situation and that is not something you can teach someone,” said Rouse. “It’s very worth it.”

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