Lisa Figueredo, a supervisor for the Miami-Dade (Fla.) Fire Rescue Department, served as a fire rescue dispatcher for 21 years before becoming a supervisor with the department.

“I believe that dispatching and 9-1-1 [play] an important role in public safety,” says Lisa Figueredo, a supervisor for the Miami-Dade (Fla.) Fire Rescue Department. “I believe we can make a difference in giving help to the city. … We are there to support operations, and I believe we play an important role in that—a behind-the-scenes role most people are not aware of. I’m very proud to say I’m a fire rescue dispatcher.”

Figueredo (43) has worked for the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department for 25 years, serving 21 of those years as a dispatcher. In 2007, she was promoted to a supervisor position.

Although she could have been promoted much earlier in her career, Figueredo chose to remain a dispatcher and focus on raising her only child, Cody, who is now 15.

When her son was born, she worked the day shift. She acknowledges that shift work is complicated and says she has spent many Christmas holidays away from home.

“It’s definitely a challenge with children,” she says. “That is one of the sacrifices you make when you decide to do this [job].”

Stressors & Frustrations
Figueredo is married to a firefighter, Fernando, whom she met on the job. He has been a firefighter for 31 years. She remembers being on duty when her husband was dispatched to a working fire.

“You just worry [if] he’s going to get out OK. You have to put that in perspective,” Figureredo says.

She was on duty when a Value Jet airliner went down and was the dispatcher when a Fine Air plane crashed next to the airport. She says, “People were calling 9-1-1 from everywhere. I remember that call being especially stressful.”

Figueredo was also on duty when the department lost a firefighter in a warehouse fire. She worked a dedicated channel on a separate frequency that was solely devoted to that fire.

“I remember that was very stressful and how hard it was,” she says. “I can still remember the Incident Commander’s tone and the sense of urgency. I remember how they were working to do everything to try to save this firefighter. That was one call you replay in your mind that has never left my memory.”

Figueredo says a frustrating aspect of being a dispatcher is that, despite working the call and being heavily involved in it at the time, the dispatcher may never know the outcome. She says that unless a dispatcher takes the initiative to later call the firehouse to inquire, the outcome is usually never known.

She also remarks that anything involving children is difficult for dispatchers. “Those types of calls are always hard,” Figuredo says.

Figueredo remembers the traumatic effects of the events of 9/11 on communications personnel. She points out that the attacks hit home because many firefighters were lost during the attacks, and many dispatchers date or marry firefighters. She also says it caused her to become more aware of politics and watch the news frequently.

“People were very subdued. It was really a hard time,” she recalls. “It was so hard for me to believe that happened.”

The Supervisor
Ten years after her son was born, Figueredo had a second opportunity to be promoted to supervisor, and she took it. In her current role, she supervises 10 to 12 staff members daily.

“I love my job. It’s a very stressful job, but also very rewarding,” she says.

Figueredo acknowledges that, as a supervisor, one has to have a somewhat aggressive personality, and must be able to multitask and make quick decisions.

“I believe you have to have very good communications skills, be dedicated to the profession and have to be able to listen and know your employees as individuals. You have to know their positive traits and know their weaknesses. I try very hard to take [the] initiative to introduce myself and get to know them,” she says.

The toughest part of her job as a supervisor is dealing with problematic dispatchers. Figueredo is of the opinion that she has to listen to what they say and that discipline should change a behavior rather than serve as punishment.

“I believe you should do everything you can to correct [behavior] at the lowest level and mediate and mitigate problems calmly,” she says.

Further, she feels, as a supervisor, she needs to show them how to do the job better. “I love the training aspect of my job,” she says.

Figueredo’s love for training may have evolved from when she studied elementary school education at Miami-Dade College for two years, part-time while working as a dispatcher. During her tenure at the department, she has both taken and taught in-service training courses. Her studies include workplace violence, how to manage people effectively, and incident stress and incident management.

Figueredo is a proactive and involved employee who also serves as a union steward. Employees come to her with issues, and she, in turn, goes to the union to explain them. In addition, she serves on various committees. “I involve myself in special projects. I just love my job,” she says.

Advice
After 25 years of experience, Figueredo says that anyone considering a job as a dispatcher must be able to multitask. Five calls may be pending, a supervisor may be talking to a dispatcher and people will be talking to the dispatcher on the air — all at the same time. These skills, she says, get honed.

Figueredo also says dispatchers must have the ability to stay calm and professional when dealing with stressful calls. She emphasizes that dispatchers can never let their frustrations be disseminated on the radio.

Additionally, Figueredo says dispatchers are constantly thinking on the job and must be able to organize and prioritize and do things quickly. “Our whole job is about accuracy and quickness,” she says.

Also, she believes dispatchers must be willing to build seniority in a department, which takes time.

A good dispatcher and role model as a supervisor, Figueredo was nominated for an award by APCO International. Not only does she admit she loves her job, she enjoys her roles outside of work. Both on and off the job, she has proven she can multitask.

“I love being a wife and a mother,” says Figueredo. She has friends both inside and outside the department, and she doesn’t hesitate to talk about her work with them.

“I take my work home with me. My husband will be the first one to tell you [that],” she says. “It’s a rewarding career and self satisfying. You are making a difference,” she says.

About the Author
Karen L. Bune is a victim specialist in the domestic violence unit of the State’s Attorney’s Office for Prince George’s County, Md. She serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and Marymount University in Arlington, Va., where she teaches victimology.

Bune is a consultant for the Training and Technical Assistance Center for the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. She is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer on victim issues. She is board-certified in traumatic stress and domestic violence, and is a fellow of The Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and the National Center for Crisis Management.

She is a 2009 inductee in the Wakefield High School (Arlington, Va.) Hall of Fame and received the Chief’s Award from the Prince George’s County Maryland Police Chief in 2009. In 2011, she received a 2011 Recognition of Service from Prince George’s County (Md.) County Executive Rushern Baker, acknowledging her dedication, tenacity and passion for serving the people of Prince George’s County.