Ottawa hiring more 9-1-1 dispatchers

Being a telecommunicator can be rewarding but also extremely stressful. By adding staff, the Ottawa City Council hopes it lessens the burden of the city’s 9-1-1 operators.

The city is moving a part-time telecommunicator to full-time while also hiring three new full-time telecommunicators. These hires will bring the total number of telecommunicators for Ottawa to a dozen, enabling there to be two operators working at all times.

Public Health & Safety Commissioner Tom Ganiere says sometimes having just one telecommunicator taking 9-1-1 calls right now is overwhelming. The new hires were budgeted for.

Ganiere says part of the deal to take over 9-1-1 calls for Marseilles was to add more full-time dispatchers.