Springfield City Communications Manager Paul Hicks said there are two reasons for the change. The first is a reduced number of staff due to employees on leave or former employees who didn’t make it past their probationary period. The second is to give employees a mental break from the job.
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Hicks said the change isn’t because of a money issue, but he said it has been hard to find the right people for the job, train them and retain them.
“Dispatchers have a very unique job. There is no closure for them,” he said. “They get a shooting call or a stabbing call or someone who’s not breathing — they send the resources to it. The resources go — they handle it. They have closure. (The dispatchers) don’t. They have to move on to the next emergency.”
Hicks said the decrease was decided instead of forcing employees to work mandatory overtime, when people are more likely to be tired and make mistakes during high-pressure situations.
He said by not forcing overtime, employees are able to relax at home and decompress from some of the stresses of the job.
“These people have lives too. They have families. We want to balance that work-life relationship so we had to make a temporary decision,” he said.
During a City of Springfield Commission meeting on Oct. 9, two first responders voiced their concerns over the change, specifically with public safety.
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“Having a dispatcher’s seat empty is something that puts my members and the police officers at risk as well as the citizens,” said Andrew Rigsbee, the president of Springfield Professional Firefighters Local 333.
Springfield City Manager Jim Bodenmiller said the city is doing everything it can to fill empty dispatcher seats.
“We’ve been working our tails off to try to fill those positions. It’s hard to find employees to do that job. They work shifts, they have families, and it’s a stressful job,” he said.
Justin Massie of the Springfield Police Patrolmen’s Association said he was there to stand with the firefighter’s association and was hopeful everyone could work together to find a solution.
“If we can all work together to take care of this and resolve this quickly, I feel that’s going to be the best for our patrolmen, our citizens, our dispatchers and our firemen,” he said.
Hicks expects staffing to get back to a normal level by the end of the month and encouraged anyone who may be interested in a career as a dispatcher to apply on the City of Springfield’s website.
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