When the Call Ends: Identifying PTSD in Emergency Dispatchers

Every day, 911 dispatchers handle the worst moments of people’s lives. But who answers the call for them?

Dispatchers are constantly exposed to traumatic events in high-pressure situations. Professionals in other lines of work can say, “it’s not a matter of life and death.” It’s an expression that takes the pressure off; it puts things in perspective. But dispatchers don’t have that luxury.

Shift work and long hours disrupt sleep and personal routines, making it hard for 911 dispatchers to decompress. Add isolation to the mix – working in high-pressure environments without seeing the outcome of calls – and the stress compounds. Over time, these stressors can intensify symptoms of anxiety, burnout, and PTSD, with few natural breaks to recover or reset.

As a communications director or public safety leader, it’s your job to support dispatchers. In this article, we’ll teach you how to recognize PTSD and better serve those (dispatchers) who give so much to serve others (citizens).

Common Indicators of PTSD in Dispatchers

While it is your job to support your team, you’re not solely responsible for identifying everyone with PTSD and mitigating the risks. That’s too much pressure for one person. However, by understanding PTSD symptoms, you can grow in empathy. You can learn how to foster a culture that supports telecommunicators. Let’s get started.

Emotional and Behavioral

There are several emotional and behavioral signs of PTSD, including sudden mood swings, irritability or outbursts that seem out of character. Withdrawal is another red flag. When team members start distancing themselves from coworkers, friends or family, it may signal more serious struggles. Recognizing these signs early can help you intervene with the right support.

Cognitive

PTSD doesn’t just affect emotions, it clouds thinking too. Dispatchers may struggle to focus, lose their train of thought, or second-guess routine decisions. Tasks that once felt automatic suddenly take more effort. When concentration fades and judgment feels off, it’s more than just a bad day. These are cognitive symptoms of PTSD, and if unaddressed, they can silently erode performance and well-being.

Physical

PTSD takes a toll on the body as well. Dispatchers may experience constant fatigue, even after sleep. Or worse, they may struggle with insomnia night after night.

When the body stays in fight-or-flight mode too long (a sympathetic nervous system response), it starts to break down. Dispatchers may experience headaches, muscle tension and heart racing on a regular basis. When dispatchers pass from fight-or-flight into freeze-or-numb (parasympathetic nervous system response), they may experience severe lethargy and brain fog.

These physical symptoms are red flags. They signify the need for intervention, as well as teaching staff how to regulate their emotions back into the “window of tolerance.”

Work Performance

PTSD can show up on the job in subtle but serious ways. Dispatchers may start arriving late or missing shifts. They may be unfocused and prone to mistakes. Routine tasks may become overwhelming to them.

These are signs of struggle, not laziness. When performance changes without clear reason, it could be PTSD. By providing the proper resources and support systems, 911 centers can help dispatchers before things get worse.

How Public Safety Agencies Can Support Dispatchers

Foster a Culture of Mental Health Awareness

911 centers can help protect the mental health of their teams. It starts by fostering a culture where mental health is acknowledged and supported, not ignored. Dispatchers deal with trauma daily, and pretending otherwise only makes it worse.

Leaders should normalize conversations around stress, anxiety and PTSD. That means encouraging dispatchers to speak up and seek help without fear of judgment.

Providing access to peer support, counseling and wellness resources shows that mental health is just as important as job performance. When help is easy to find and openly supported, dispatchers are more likely to use it.

Provide Resources

ECCs can support dispatchers with professional mental health resources tailored to the demands of emergency communications. This includes access to counseling services, employee assistance programs (EAPs) and critical incident stress management (CISM). Offering subscriptions to mental health apps for peer-to-peer support, stress management or guided meditation can be helpful too. By making these resources accessible, agencies send a clear message to telecommunicators: your well-being matters.

Implement Peer Support Programs

Peer support programs can be a lifeline for 911 dispatchers dealing with stress, trauma or burnout. These programs connect dispatchers with trained colleagues who understand the job’s emotional toll firsthand. Sometimes, talking to someone who’s “been there” makes all the difference.

Peer supporters can offer a listening ear, guidance or resources when needed. These programs also reduce stigma by creating a safe, judgment-free space to talk about mental health. When peer support is part of the culture, dispatchers are more likely to seek help and support one another.

Leverage Technology to Reduce Stress

In a high-pressure job like emergency communications, modern technology can alleviate stress. With smarter tools and integrated systems, dispatchers spend less time wrestling with tech and more time focusing on the calls that matter.

User-friendly, integrated CAD systems (like CentralSquare CAD and Unify) simplify workflows and reduce repetitive tasks. Instead of juggling multiple platforms or manually entering data, dispatchers can work faster and more efficiently with fewer errors.

Analytics tools also help. By identifying high-stress call patterns, 911 centers can adjust staffing or provide extra support when it’s needed most. Real-time insights give leadership the data to act proactively.

Create Balanced Schedules

Long hours and changing schedules make it difficult for dispatchers to recover between shifts. 911 centers can help by building schedules that allow for regular breaks, adequate time off and consistent shift rotations. Consider the pros and cons of strategies you haven’t tried before, like shift bidding or 4-day, 10-hour shift schedules.

Giving dispatchers time to step away, even briefly, can reduce mental fatigue and improve focus. Planned breaks and manageable workloads benefit the community as well. When dispatchers are rested, they can think clearly, respond quickly and support callers with more compassion. It’s a simple change that can make a major impact.

The Role of Leadership

Leadership sets the tone for a 911 center’s culture, and that includes mental health. Public safety leaders have a responsibility to support dispatchers with their words and actions. Here are some good places to start.

First, communications directors must lead by example. When supervisors participate in wellness initiatives, take mental health seriously, and model healthy work habits, it shows their teams that it’s safe (and encouraged) to prioritize well-being.

Second, leadership training is essential. Supervisors should be equipped to recognize the signs of PTSD, anxiety and burnout. They should know how to respond with empathy, connect team members to resources and create a stigma-free environment. Asking for help should be treated as a strength, not a weakness.

Finally, support must be built into the system. That starts at a policy level, developing new mental health policies and procedures that protect dispatchers. From structured debriefs after traumatic calls to flexible time-off policies, these steps build trust, improve retention, and keep dispatchers healthy in a high-stress job.

You can also support telecommunicators by upgrading your CAD, RMS, CAD-to-CAD, and 911 Call Handling systems. CentralSquare has industry-best solutions like Public Safety Suite Pro that will save time, simplify workflows and improve emergency response. Schedule a discovery call today to learn how our modern, automated software can help alleviate dispatcher stress.