Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
4 <br />program. Several participants indicated a perception that a <br />large number of people who receive initial training with the <br />intention of working part -time do not become dependable <br />substitutes. I intend to explore some type of standard <br />agreement that personnel who receive training and are paid <br />for that training after passing the qualification exam will <br />incur some length of service obligation, or be required to <br />reimburse the County for their training. <br />A number of internal and external participants indicated the <br />need and /or desire for more supervisory training. <br />Telecommunications supervisors do attend the County's general <br />management training sessions, but I will be asking Nick <br />Waters and Elaine Holmes to explore options for other <br />supervisory training opportunities geared to the emergency <br />communications field. Suggestions were made that relief <br />supervisors should be formally screened and appointed against <br />a set of established criteria. I believe this idea has <br />merit, and will take a look at supervisory training <br />opportunities for relief supervisors as well. <br />Early in the review process, we asked our Employee Assistance <br />Program (EAP) contracted personnel (Human Affairs <br />International, Inc.) to conduct a debriefing session with <br />telecommunications staff. This voluntary session was well - <br />attended and received by employees, and pointed out some <br />areas where additional training and support for <br />telecommunications staff is necessary. Several of the <br />telecommunicators with whom Rod and I met indicated a strong <br />desire to hold periodic training sessions with EAP. The EAP <br />area director has indicated his willingness and ability to <br />provide such training, and I intend to take him up on the <br />offer by scheduling semi- annual support and training <br />sessions. I thank it is important to recognize that <br />telecommunicators have to deal with more than their fair <br />share of stress as an inherent characteristic of their jobs. <br />I believe that the expanded Orange central facility and <br />improved equipment, in conjunction with ongoing training in <br />dealing appropriately with stress, will provide employees <br />with an extra measure of ability to cope with stress. <br />As our new equipment and capabilities come on line, I believe <br />we owe it to both employees and citizens not to allow <br />expectations about service improvements to outstrip our <br />ability to deliver those improvements. I intend to ensure <br />that we upgrade our capabilities in a phased, rational manner <br />that should avoid overloading telecommunications staff with <br />new procedures. There will be a certain learning curve <br />involved in automating many functions that dispatchers now <br />handle manually. The degree of training required on new <br />consoles, Enhanced 911 (E911), Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), <br />and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping tools will <br />vary, but we will not proceed to new systems before <br />dispatchers are comfortable with training on those systems. <br />3 <br />