‘They are truly first responders’: City continues push to fill vacancies for 911 dispatchers

HONOLULU - (Hawaii News Now) -It’s a job that finds people calling for help in their most desperate time of need.

Last year, city emergency 911 dispatchers took almost a million calls from the public — calls that require quick thinking and a calm response ASAP.

“You know, these outstanding communications personnel are really the tip of the spear in our response operations, they really are, they truly are first responders,” said Deputy Honolulu Police Chief Keith Horikawa.

“They tell people how to stop bleeding, they’ve delivered babies over the phone, talk family members or friends through it at the house or on the side of the road,” said James Ireland with Honolulu Emergency Services and Ocean Safety.

HPD currently has 38 vacancies for police communications officers and four vacancies for 911 emergency response operators.

Honolulu Emergency Medical Services has six openings.

HFD is the only agency that is fully staffed.

Being short staffed does have its challenges and while all department heads say they are still able to vet all calls that come in, being fully staffed will only enhance the ability to provide emergency resources in a timely fashion.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has personally put out his plea to fill the vacancies.

“We’ve got to get people who want to do this type of work because it is not easy,” he said.

Buck Giles, a dispatcher with Ocean Safety describes what type of person is needed for the job.

“They have to be very level-headed and multi task. Sometimes you have two telephones or two radios attached to you because you are thinking about what you have to do, what you have to say,” he says.

While it may be stressful, many dispatchers, like HFD’s Kazuo Kaneshiro, say it’s well worth it because you are truly making a difference in people’s lives.

“Any time we can give back as first responders, that’s what we all signed up to serve our fellow men and women in this community, this island, this state.”

Fellow HFD Dispatcher Ross Takata agrees.

“It’s big team effort and I think the team starts with the 911 caller so with that good information, that’s the first part of the team and then it comes to us and then we can get the rest of the team trolling and help them out,” says Takata.

So, if you are up to the task, go to the city’s website and look for the employment page.

Basic requirements are you need a high school diploma and at least one-year of work experience communicating with the public. If you get the job, you already have a big fan who has nothing but good things to say about you.

“At every opportunity I have, I brag about the first responders of our city,” said the mayor at a recent press conference.

So, go ahead, give the mayor something to continue to brag about, especially if you are that person who took that call and saved someone’s life.

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