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

What is an emergency operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an emergency operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.49 an hour? That's $38,458 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreEmergency OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,458

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 58.89%

male 41.11%

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 operator

Explore emergency operator education requirements

Most common emergency operator degrees

Bachelor's

42.5 %

Associate

21.7 %

High School Diploma

21.2 %

Start to develop specific emergency operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Emergency Situations	22.53%
Emergency Operations	19.48%
Emergency Services	11.18%
EMS	7.66%
Computer Aided Dispatch	7.15%

Complete relevant emergency operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New emergency 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 operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real emergency operator resumes.

Research emergency operator duties and responsibilities

Manage busy company switchboard, operating PBX or private branch exchange systems to facilitate connections.
Utilize CCTV system to monitor and record activity in and around the facility.
Answer emergency calls/dispatch police fire and sheriff, enter and cancel stolen property and vehicles, run criminal history
Certify by APCO as a nationally recognize emergency dispatcher.

Prepare your emergency operator resume

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

Build a professional emergency 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 operator resume.