Helping New Dispatchers Tune In

I’ve seen a lot of conversation online recently about new dispatchers frequently missing radio traffic and how to help them develop “radio ear”. Often there are helpful suggestions shared, but the number of times I’ve seen responses like “you don’t, they either have it or they don’t” or “it’s not something you can really train”, is incredibly disappointing. Imagine being a trainee who is being told (directly or indirectly) that they’re not able to do something, but there’s nothing they can do about it. How discouraging!

This idea that you either have “radio ear” or you don’t isn’t just discouraging, it’s also a myth.

The ability to catch and process radio traffic in the middle of CAD entry, phone calls, and multiple other demands is not some innate superpower. It’s a skill. And like all skills, it can be taught—and learned. (Now there will be those who are not able to develop the skill to level they will need to be successful just like any skill, but it’s not because they just don’t have a magical radio ear.)

When a trainee struggles to track radio traffic, it’s not always about ability. More often, it’s about attention. If their energy is focused on mastering call handling or learning CAD shortcuts, they may simply not know what to listen for on the radio or when to listen for it. That doesn’t mean they’re not cut out for dispatch—it means they need guidance.

As trainers, it’s our job to help them build this awareness.

We can start by walking them through how common calls unfold on the radio:

● What does a traffic stop sound like from start to finish?

● What should you expect to hear when fire is dispatched to a structure fire?

● What follow-up radio traffic usually happens after units are en route?

When it comes to knowing where we have to put our attention and focus in emergency communications, it’s not going to be something we naturally recognize. To someone who is just learning the job everything feels important and it is physically impossible to do all the things at once so we have to help guide their attention to where it’s most important.

When they miss a piece of radio traffic, you can also tie it back to expectations. So when they ask “what did they say?” Instead of just having them have the field responder repeat their traffic, you can also highlight where they are in the call and reflect on if the radio traffic was something that follows what they would anticipate for that call type or not.

This is NOT to say that we are assuming what is going to be said or has been said, but are helping the trainee know where to direct their attention and thus their focus.

When trainees start to expect the traffic, they begin to recognize it more easily—and that’s the beginning of true radio awareness. Followed up with repeated opportunities to practice, remember, learning takes more time than we think, they’ll begin to really develop the skill.

So the next time you’re working with a new dispatcher who’s “missing” the radio, remember:

It’s not a missing trait.

It’s a missing lesson.

Let’s teach it.