Probationary Fire Equipment Dispatcher

Salary: $53,196.00

Hourly Rate of Pay: $26.28

Position Grade: 69F

Department: Fire Department

Job Type: Full-Time (Permanent)

Examination Number: EX1280

Location: Fire Department Headquarters - St. Louis, MO

Upon successful completion of his/her working test period and being granted permanent status, a Probationary Fire Equipment Dispatcher shall receive a title change to Fire Equipment Dispatcher.

Incumbents in this position receive and evaluate telephone calls for fire equipment services and dispatch appropriate emergency response personnel to the scene. Positions require shift, weekend and holiday assignments and some mandatory overtime assignments.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Receives emergency telephones and private alarm company calls.

• Dispatches firefighting equipment on the basis of an established street index assignment and nature of emergency.

• Operates console and microphone of the audible dispatching system and two way radio system.

• Operates a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, indicating the current status of all firefighting equipment, etc.

• Handles communication between fire department units in and/or out of service and relays messages as necessary.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Data Utilization: Requires the ability to perform basic level of data analysis including the ability to review, classify, categorize, prioritize and/or reference data, statutes and/or guidelines and/or group, rank, investigate, and diagnose. Requires discretion in determining and referencing such to established standards to recognize interactive effects and relationships.

• Human Interaction: Requires the ability to provide guidance, assistance and/or interpretation to others, such as coworkers and the public, on how to apply policies, procedures and standards to specific situations.

• Equipment, Machinery, Tools and Materials Use: Requires the ability to operate, maneuver and/or provide simple but continuous adjustment on equipment, machinery and tools such as computer-aided dispatch console, telephone, paging system, and/or materials used in performing essential functions.

• Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize a variety of advisory data and information such as activity logs, time sheets, maps, street guides, standard operating procedures, technical operating manuals and guidelines.

• Mathematical Aptitude: Requires the ability to perform addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.

• Functional Reasoning: Requires the ability to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form. Involves semi-routine standardized work, with some latitude for independent judgment regarding choices of action.

• Situational Reasoning: Requires the ability to exercise the judgment, decisiveness and creativity required in emergency situations involving the evaluation of information against sensory, judgmental and/or subjective criteria, as opposed to criteria that are clearly measurable or verifiable.

• Environmental Factors: Tasks are regularly performed in safe and comfortable surroundings without exposure to adverse environmental conditions. Although incumbents are subject to stress by being involved by telephone with emergency situations.

• Physical Requirements: Requires the ability to sustain prolonged visual concentration. Requires the ability to speak clearly.

• Sensory Requirements: Requires the ability to recognize and identify degrees of similarities or differences between characteristics of colors, shapes and sounds associated with job-related objects, materials and tasks to evaluate callers during emergency situations and decipher colored maps.

Other Requirements:

• Positions require shift, weekend and holiday assignments and some mandatory overtime assignments.
  

A high school diploma or General Educational Development (G.E.D.) certificate; plus one year of recent full-time paid dispatching experience; OR one year of customer service experience in a call center work environment.

Preference: Possession of a current EMD certification at the time of filing application.

Scoring Components and Their Weights
Experience and Training: 100%
May be Subject to:
Background Investigation: Pass/Fail
Medical Examination: Pass/Fail

Documentation of Academic Credentials must be Submitted Upon Request

When completing the Employment History and the Educational/Training History sections of the Employment Application, please be as thorough as possible when describing your education, training and experience relating to this position. Applicants will only receive credit for their experience, training and education as shown on the application. Resumes will not be accepted as a substitute to a fully completed application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Veterans Preference Points

To be eligible for veteran's preference points, the applicant must submit a copy of their DD 214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty with the Employment Application or upon request. The Director of Personnel may, in their discretion, accept alternate documentation.

City Residence Preference Points

City residents who pass an examination for a position in the classified service and do not receive any other preference will receive a five (5) point preference on a scale of 100 points on the exam. An additional one (1) point shall be added to the passing score of City residents who receive any other preference on a scale of 100 points. City residents must have resided in the City for at least one (1) year at the time of filing their application to be eligible for the preference points.

Accommodations

If assistance with the job application is necessary based on a physical impairment, mental impairment, or otherwise, they should reach out to the Office on the Disabled with contact information. This office will not disclose any information that an applicant or employee has a disability or has discussed possible accommodations without the applicant's or employee's prior consent.