To wonder how you become a 999 responder?

My experience was that the officers in the room (they used to get rotated through to experience it) with us found it much harder than us staff. They were used to going and fixing the problem, whereas our job was just to get the information and pass it through.

But yes, some calls are horrific. And they’re interspersed with idiots calling because their pizza hasn’t arrived. Switching between the two adds a layer of stress.

I'm sorry but no way did that happen! NO police force would purposefully traumatise new staff like that. We have upsetting real calls, yes - but management will be straight over if we have one like that, check we are OK, offer any support needed to help deal with it- be that a bit of fresh air or someone to talk it through with.

Even in training (which we still have regularly) we'll be warned if content may be distressing and given the option to leve the room for that part if needed.

My son’s girlfriend has just completed her training. We’re north west but she’s working for North Wales ambulance service. She’s out at the moment but I’ll ask her how she found the job 😀

NHS jobs website - all the ambulance services in England advertise there for call handlers

Although it’s a drama I thought it gave such good insight into how it might be. Particularly how after a really intense call the handler will have no idea how things end once the on site services arrive

If you’re talking about 999 call handler then you can look on the YAS website current vacancies. They might have one on there.

Crumpet Thankyou! I can’t sleep ( night here) and have spent the last hour or so listening to “Lifelines” - it’s brilliant!

I do it for the police - most forces advertise on their force website jobs section, same for each ambulance and fire service I imagine.

I had a typing test and spelling test first, followed by an interview where they gave me some scenarios.

The pay isn't bad but the shifts are very unsociable, covering 24 hours a day, we do a rotating pattern. We don't follow a script and neither do fire so there's a lot of thinking on your feet involved - Ambulance call handlers have to follow a script, and in all of them there will be a lot of very distressing calls and you have to be prepared to take a lot of abuse amd possibly become very cynical (along with developing a very dark sense of humour!)

The BT operators are different, they just ask which service you require and transfer you through to whichever one you say (or just to the police if they can't work it out). They are based in Liverpool, Nottingham, Dundee, Portadown, Belfast, Birmingham, Bangor and Glasgow. Sorry any BT exchanges I have forgotten!

I wrote a long post offering advice and information and you’ve responded like that. You’re being rude. You won’t get any role with that attitude.

No need to be so rude, the op was only asking for advice.
i am sure there are lots of people on here who can help out, and want to help.

The title says First Responder. Not call handler. The only mention of phones in all of her posts was in the OP ‘good manner on the phone’ - not call handler.

OP - what role are you actually talking about? Do you even know?

I thought a 999 responder was a solo ambulance technician!

It seems pretty clear from the ops posts.

I'm sure she would have specified if she'd wanted to be a police officer, firefighter or paramedic 😂

I wouldn't do it.

My best friends dad is ex-military and ex-police (ACC) and has seen it all. He took it up after he retired just to have a 'job' so to speak. He lasted six months - said the calls were worse than being a first responder. She said he had nightmares of some of the calls he had taken.

If you want to do it, then just google/keep an eye on relevant force websites. But it really is not a glamorous job and it can be very testing on even the most resilient of people.

Where has the OP specified she wants a call handler role?

I have a relative who takes 999 calls for the police.

One thing to be aware of is that police call handlers receive not only police 999 calls but also any calls where the service needed couldn't be determined - so when someone calls and is unintelligible or screaming so it's not known if they need police/ambulance/fire (they then reroute calls but also have a couple of specially trained staff on site for emergency medical issues).

From what I've heard of the job, you need to be incredibly resilient to deal. After a very long recruitment process (including multiple tests - aptitude, medical, hearing, personality) all of the successful day one recruits were taken to a room and played some calls. The very first call my relatives cohort heard was a 'couldn't determine the service call' as it was simply a woman screaming. Then when she was able to speak, it became clear that it was because she'd just found her two month old baby passed away. They listened to a number of other calls that day, equally horrific. People committing suicide whilst literally on the line to the call handler. People finding their children or spouses dead. Horrific RTA's with awful, graphic details of injuries and deaths. Children screaming blood curdling screams in the background.

That was day 1, there was no easing into it - and several people (who'd completed a 5 month recruitment process) simply never returned on day 2.

I'm fairly resilient and not easily upset but there's no way I could do that job.

NW Ambulance Service (NWAS) cover Lancs, Merseyside/Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Cumbria.

Have a look at their website - they advertise vacancies there as well as on TRAC (the NHS job portal).

You could also look at being a 111 call handler if you wanted - I knew people who used to work in 111 for a bit and then apply to move across to 999 calls.

The BBC Ambulance series show a bit of what it is like to be a call handler.

Our local police force advertises this job every 3 months. Check your local force's jobs page.

It depends what you actually want to do.

The easiest role to ‘get into’ in an ambulance 999 directorate is that of an Emergency Care Assistant (ECA) or Emergency & Urgent Care Support Worker. My Trust offers this course as part of an Apprenticeship or direct entry.

The next level up is a kind of junior clinician role - Associate Ambulance Practitioner (AAP). Some Trusts off this an Apprenticeship and some offer a direct entry.

To become a Paramedic you have to have a HCPC approved degree in Paramedic Science. So you either have to go to University as a UCAS student or get into a service and work your way up to being able to apply for internal pathways.

All ambulance trusts will advertise roles on the NHS Jobs website and usually on their own website. Here is NWAS’ website
https://www.nwas.nhs.uk/careers/vacancies/#!/job_list/s3/Emergency_Services?_ts=1

You couldn't find the NHS careers website for your area, no?! Yes forums are for good but there is also a wealth of information that is actually right online.

www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/ambulance-service-team/roles-ambulance-service/emergency-medical-dispatchercall-handler

www.careers.nhs.scot/explore-careers/ambulance-services/emergency-call-handler/

www.scottishambulance.com/our-services/who-will-care-for-you/call-taker/

www.nhsjobs.com/job_list/Emergency_Services/s3/Call_Handlers_Control_Room_Staff/d953

Not really on topic but there was a very good drama in bbc sounds called something like Life Line which you might be interested in

It doesnt work like that. There is no such thing as a 999 responder job. You are either in the ambulance serice, police or fire. You dont apply for the police and give a preference of ambulance for example. You also dont 'cross over' from police to ambulance without a whole other application and interview and new training, just like if you were to apply again

I used to do this for the police. Had to do a typing test - speed/accuracy. I wouldn’t worry about prior knowledge, the training is thorough. Theyre likely to want to know you can handle difficult people, stay calm under pressure (which could be someone dying on the other end of the phone, or it could be someone screaming and swearing at you), take in lots of information, ask clear questions.

Bear in mind it’s normally 12 hour shifts, days and nights.

My boyfriend has just applied for this in Scotland. We have a website for nhs Scotland that lists all the jobs and you can get alerts when they come up so you can apply. He’s already doing a phone/customer service job and part of the criteria is to be able to accurately type 30 words a min but different areas will require different skills.