This is one I am very curious about. I have worked for a couple of different companies in my 9 years. 2 large competing services in the same area. One I was on the street and now I am a dispatcher.

The difference between the two are that my last company I was based in the same building as dispatch. We got to see them often and some of the dispatchers even worked on the street occasionally to fill in when needed.

The place I work now we are based about 20 miles away from all of our bases. We don't often see the medics that we work with and I have been here for 4 years now and have never seen most of them.

My last company I got along well with dispatch most of the time. I was friends with many of them. Where I work now that is not the same. We seem to have more conflicts between dispatch and the street. Do any of you have the same problems? Have you tried anything to solve the problem? Did they help?

I would love any ideas that you might have.

Seeya Bye

Admin ...

My last company was similar to yours, in that the crews (most of them) and dispatch were housed in the aame quarters. In general, i think that dispatch got along with those crews better than the ones that weren't stationed there. At my current company, I'm not really sure what the problem is ... I know that in talking with a couple of the street folks, their position is that some of us in dispatch are way too defensive, and any question the crew might have is immediately treated as a challenge and the emotions get racheted up. I think there's a reason for that, to be sure, but I think (and it applies to both sides) that folks let emotion get in the way.

What's really annoying is to hear how some of our street staff say that all we do is burn them or send them calls that other crews are closer to; they never see the work we do to get them off at, or close to, their off time.

As far as their point of view is considered, you have to admit that there are probably people you work with who are way too tense, or maybe insecure, and take anything said to them negatively. There are also people you work with who couldn't send the closest truck in a one crew system and don't care enough to make themselves better.

Just my $.02 at 0203 a.m.

Steve