How To Become An Emergency Dispatch Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is an emergency dispatch operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an emergency dispatch operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.83 an hour? That's $45,398 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreEmergency Dispatch OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $45,398

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.72%

Asian 0.90%

Black or African American 9.14%

Hispanic or Latino 11.11%

Unknown 6.00%

White 72.13%

Gender

female 70.17%

male 29.83%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.7

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an emergency dispatch operator

Explore emergency dispatch operator education requirements

Most common emergency dispatch operator degrees

High School Diploma

33.5 %

Bachelor's

24.7 %

Associate

23.8 %

Start to develop specific emergency dispatch operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Departmental Procedures	14.70%
Emergency Dispatch	13.36%
Customer Service	11.28%
Inbound Calls	10.47%
Outbound Calls	10.22%

Complete relevant emergency dispatch operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New emergency dispatch operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an emergency dispatch operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real emergency dispatch operator resumes.

Research emergency dispatch operator duties and responsibilities

Train in first responder, CPR, hazmat, wreckmaster.
Educate customers in event history, update data, and troubleshoot their alarm system.
Analyze, troubleshoot and resolve customer telephone inquiries regarding billing issues, service offerings, and equipment usage.
Deploy fire, police, EMT workers to designate locations to assist with crime, injuries, or fire.

Prepare your emergency dispatch operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your emergency dispatch operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an emergency dispatch operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable emergency dispatch operator resume templates

Build a professional emergency dispatch operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your emergency dispatch operator resume.