Lucerne County 911 managers take calls due to lack of staff

Due to the staffing crisis in Lucerne County's emergency services, managers and department heads are currently helping with receiving and sending emergency calls, officials said.

More than half of the telecommunicator positions — 34 of 64 — are currently vacant, District 911 Executive Director Fred Rosenkrans said Wednesday.

Of the 30 vacancies filled, only 25 telecommunicators are currently able to handle calls, he said, as five are still in training.

Over the past month, the 911 center has lost three experienced communicators, including a 25-year-old and a 23-year-old employee.

"The bottom line is, I'm losing them faster than I can get them in the door right now, and I have to stop the bleeding," Rosenkrans said.

He has advertised vacancies extensively on radio, television, newspapers and social media and currently has five or six billboards throughout the county highlighting vacancies.

Under a union agreement approved by the county council last year, telecom trainee starting wages increased from $32,900 ($15.81 an hour) to $37,500 ($18 an hour). The position is posted on luzernecounty.org.

But until more vacancies are filled, Rosenkrans said he was forced to enforce mandatory overtime, which "literally burned out my staff" and was the main reason workers were fired "at an astronomical pace."

"It's not about the money. They want work-life balance and come home at the usual time," he said.

Telecommunicators work eight-hour shifts and, he says, a 16-hour day has become "the norm over the past few months."

He has several telecommunicators who come on weekends and work every day of the week to ensure that emergency calls are answered.

It's not uncommon for some employees to work 80 hours a week instead of the usual 40, he said.

The temporary deployment of supervisors and managers for call handling and dispatching is an attempt to cut down on daily forced overtime, he said.

The administration has said that supervisors/managers needed to assist will receive an additional stipend that will be covered by state 911 funding, meaning it will not impact the county's general fund operating budget.

For now, the help of supervisors and managers to process calls is providing some respite, he said, noting that he was able to send two telecom operators home on time on Wednesday morning instead of having them work double shifts.

“Fortunately, I can use this lifeline right now until I recruit and train staff,” he said.

Rosenkrans also issued an open request for proposals from organizations interested in providing temporary hired personnel to assist with emergency call taking, dispatch, and quality assurance. Answers are accepted until March 21.

He stressed that the request will determine if there are any third party organizations that will provide such a service. If there are answers, the administration will have to work with the AFSCME, the union that represents the telecommunications companies, to determine if an agreement can be reached to allow the use of employees. According to him, the district would not enter into such an agreement without the full consent of the union in order to ensure compliance with the collective agreement.

Rosenkrans said planning for such a contract, if any, could take months, and he wants to prepare ahead of time as a last resort in case the staffing situation doesn't improve.

He's working on longer-term solutions (Rosenkrans has so far declined to discuss details) that he believes will solve hiring and retention problems. To succeed, he says, the council, administration and union will have to work together.

According to him, the lack of telecommunicators is a problem in many districts of the state.

“This is serious enough for the governor to mention it in his budget speech,” he said.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is pushing for increased 911 phone charges and annual cost of living adjustments that would make tens of millions of dollars more affordable for 911 systems annually, he said.

The monthly fee is currently $1.65 per device, he said.

Lucerne County's 911 is one of the 15 busiest of the county's 62 dispatch centers in the state, he said. It handles an average of 430,000 emergency and non-emergency calls each year and provides dispatch services to 175 police, fire and ambulance services.

Contact Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or tweet @TLJenLearnAndes.