High vacancy rates have resulted in a stretched-out 911 center in Rochester

Rochester, New York – These are the people we rely on in life-or-death emergencies, yet working at the 911 center in Rochester presents a number of challenges.

Employee fatigue and longer workdays are a result of staff vacancies.

Michael Cerretto, director of the Rochester Emergency Communications Department, stated, “It’s not where we’d like it to be, but the way the position is right now, we’re able to continue to maintain the service that the community is expecting from us.”

Nonetheless, there are currently close to 60 openings at the center for supervisors, dispatchers, and telecommunicators.

“Where the difficulties run into is that they’re working a lot of hours to provide this service, and I would say they always step up when they have to,” Cerretto stated.

Each eight-hour shift is worked by nearly thirty workers; nevertheless, Cerretto claims that when an employee calls out, the workforce is obliged to work overtime, which frequently results in needed sixteen-hour days.

“We offer the community excellent services. We cannot afford to be closed, and the community demands a high standard of service. We have to enforce when we have openings since we are unable to ignore calls when they come in, said Cerretto.

Mandatory overtime is covered under the employee’s contract, he continued. But occasionally, it results in annoyance, low morale, and even higher employee turnover.

“The issue is that we are staff-light. Therefore, there will always be a morale issue with individuals working long hours till we can hire more staff. It’s not the most straightforward task,” he remarked.

When asked if there have been any difficulties responding to emergency calls as a result of the staffing deficit, Cerretto stated, “I think when you answer a million phone calls a year, you have, you have issues that come up, but none of them have been related to staffing at this point.”

He maintains that while huge occurrences may cause delays, 911 calls are typically addressed in 10 seconds or less.

“You’ll receive an answer in the period you’re accustomed to. I would advise you to stay on the line if you are phoning in and you do receive a long ring,” he said.

About 500 applications are being processed by the emergency communications department, and a class is scheduled to graduate in December.