I just recently started training to become a 911 telecommunicator for my home county. It's only been about a week but I have a ton of information that I have to start taking in and memorizing. Just to give you all a hint as to what this information is... I'll list some of it for you. 

 

- 7 pages worth of 10 codes and Signals

- Jurisdictions for three PDs and a Sheriff's Office, and how they all divide their units during shifts

- Districts of 18 fire stations, three EMS stations, and one QRV station. Also must know which First Stations have First Responders and which don't

- Phone Number for 32 different services throughout our county, and the addresses of 10 places

- Active Shooter Protocol

- What to do when a MAYDAY is declared on a fire scene

- How to handle HAZMAT Incidents (such as an overturned tanker, fire in a building containing chemicals, etc.)

- The ORI's and ESN Numbers of different departments and services throughout the county

 

Now.. I want to make it clear that I'm not complaining about how much I have to learn. I knew going in that it would be a lot. I'm just looking for people that may have done this before that might have some tips on how I need to go about learning all of this stuff; or even people that haven't done something like this before that might have some good advice for me. I know most of it is just going to come over time but things such as my 10 codes and signals need to be learned as fast as I can. Also, this may be of importance, we are a center that does not have separate call takers and dispatchers. Everyone takes phone calls that come in, but they are only responsible for one service at a time (Local PD, Sheriff's Office, Fire, EMS); and they switch every 3 hours. Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope that I can get some good tips from the community!

In my experience you just learn them over time and gaining experience. I didn't really know all the 10-codes and signals until I actually went on ride alongs with patrol deputies because that is when I started using them on a regular basis and that helped me memorize them.