Public Safety Emergency Call Taker I​/Ii

Public Safety Emergency Call Taker I/II

Prince George's County Government provides a dynamic and inclusive workplace where employees can thrive, learn, and grow across its 30 diverse agencies, all dedicated to serving the County's residents with essential resources and services. Nestled just minutes away from Washington, DC, Prince George's County combines urban vibrancy with serene surroundings, offering an ideal setting to live, work, and enjoy life.

The Office of Homeland Security is currently seeking qualified applicants to fill Public Safety Emergency Call Taker I/II positions, Grade P14/P15 in the Public Safety Communications (PSC) Division for its upcoming Fall training classes. This role is critical in maintaining and supporting public safety. If you have a desire to help the community, support emergency responses, and are seeking a rewarding career in public safety communications, we invite you to apply today.

Call Takers receive incoming calls via the 9-1-1 system's emergency or non-emergency lines, enter and transmit appropriate emergency information and codes into the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), and simultaneously provide pre-arrival and post-dispatch instructions to distressed or irate callers while recording data in the CAD system. Call Takers are responsible for becoming familiar with emergency and dispatch protocols to effectuate response and transmission of emergency requests in a safe, reproducible, and non-arbitrary manner.

Incumbents are expected to exhibit highly skilled listening ability in order to quickly and accurately ascertain from emotional, distraught individuals, the nature of assistance required along with the ability to accurately and quickly type/enter the information in the CAD system. Call Takers must have the tolerance to work under pressure. Work is performed inside a secured, windowless office environment with a specialized low-light system and includes prolonged periods of sitting at a designated workstation monitoring computer screens and entering data.

There is limited opportunity for physical movement; rest and meal periods are dependent on workload. Incumbents must be able to perform the following: reaching, fingering, grasping, hearing/listening, seeing/observing, and repetitive motions. Vision abilities required for this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus; the ability to see with or without corrective lenses, and well enough to read standard text and text displayed on a video display terminal.

Work may require constant focus on a computer screen for two or more hours at a time.

All personnel in this class of work must work on site and are not eligible for telework or remote work assignments.

The Office of Homeland Security (OHS) was developed as a result of legislation passed in 2003. This new agency incorporated critical emergency response entities that were previously part of other agencies. Public Safety Communications (PSC), which included all County 9-1-1, emergency dispatch and radio system support, had been part of the Office of Information Technology and Communications (OITC). The Emergency Management Division (EM) was within the Fire/EMS Department.

EM and PSC were combined under the leadership of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Public Safety/Director of Homeland Security, forming the Office of Homeland Security. The legislation and resulting changes to the Charter, spelled out the separate and distinct missions assigned to EM and PSC.

• Operate a workstation comprised of multiple computer systems including Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) 9-1-1 emergency and non-emergency telephone system, geographical mapping tools (GIS and aerial photography), Computer Aided Dispatch, and other repositories for critical information to answer, triage and process incoming emergency and non-emergency calls of service
• Initiate calls for service, utilizing appropriate protocols, provides pre-arrival instructions including CPR instructions, when appropriate
• Receive incoming requests for emergency and non-emergency assistance, determine the type of service(s) required and initiate calls for service in accordance with emergency dispatch protocols and Public Safety Communication (PSC), Police, Sheriff's, Fire/EMS and other public safety agencies' policies
• Receive calls via the radio, 9-1-1 system or telephone while using an issued headset or other computer-based communication equipment and processes/records pertinent information according to agency procedures and protocol
• Make computer inquiries and be able to interpret the information that is received from the various agencies via the computer
• Operate the various technical systems and equipment necessary to obtain and properly process 9-1-1 calls for service. This includes the deaf teletype system, 9-1-1 system, text to 9-1-1 computer function, language line, mapping programs, and the Computer Aided Dispatch system
• Provide emergency pre-arrival and post-arrival instructions to the caller to mitigate…