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Dispatchers urge reclassification as first responders to improve recruitment and mental-health supports
Summary
Multiple dispatch supervisors and the Juneau public-safety manager testified in support of HB 234, which would reclassify emergency dispatchers as first responders for PERS retirement and access to wellness resources; witnesses cited staffing shortages, lengthy training, high workloads and suicide risk.
Sponsor explained HB 234 would reclassify emergency dispatchers as first responders and add them to the public safety category of the PERS retirement system to improve retention and access to wellness benefits.
Colette Thibodeaux, an emergency dispatch supervisor at Anchorage Airport Police and Fire, described decades in the job, chronic understaffing, and traumatic calls that remain with dispatchers. "We are the forgotten many times...We don't get recognition. We don't get the appropriate training or compensation," she said, and recounted both lifesaving and haunting calls.
Erin Kawara, Juneau public safety manager, told the committee dispatch centers face high attrition and recruitment challenges: she estimated about 49 operational PSAPs in Alaska and roughly 320 full-time public-safety dispatchers statewide, with many centers operating below authorized staffing. She said reclassification would help by expanding retirement options, wellness resources and grant eligibility. "Reasonable retirement options and expanding the availability of wellness benefits will be a very, very appealing incentive for our well trained...public safety professionals to stay in their field," Kawara said.
Committee discussion noted the bill's likely effect is quicker retirement eligibility and asked what other steps the legislature could take to ease on-the-job stresses; witnesses emphasized shorter career burdens and access to wellness resources.