SDOT employee Heather Fancher works during the night shift. Photo: SDOT Blog stats: 700 words | 3-minute read
Did you know that SDOT’s Dispatch Team works around-the-clock every day to help keep traffic moving and keep us all safe when we travel?
When a tree falls onto a street, a crash blocks a lane, or police or firefighters need traffic detoured around a dangerous situation, our Dispatch Team deploys the SDOT Response Team (SRT) to clear the road and keep people moving.
SDOT is responsible for responding to and mitigating hazards in the right-of-way, in coordination with other City departments and partner agencies. Dispatch takes in calls and triages them with appropriate resources based on the nature of the hazard. Radio Dispatchers also support SDOT’s response to traffic signal issues and emergencies like landslides, so they often communicate with SDOT’s on-call managers, crew chiefs, supervisors, and signal electricians, and the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections.
These are just a few examples of the important work coordinated by SDOT’s Dispatch Center. Dispatch is the central hub for information about urgent issues on Seattle’s streets. Dispatchers receive calls and emails from police, fire, public utility employees, SDOT staff, WSDOT, transit agencies, and the public.
Rapid response
Our Dispatch staff quickly assess the situation and then determine what action should be taken, such as alerting the Seattle Police Department, Seattle Fire Department, SDOT’s Transportation Operations Center, and/or deploying an SDOT SRT unit, tree crew, or maintenance crew. Deploying SRT to the scene quickly provides safety support for police and firefighters and the traveling public. And the sooner our SRT responders can do their job, the safer everyone is as they travel past the scene.
Having one central clearinghouse for information allows specialists throughout SDOT, the City, and our regional partners to see the full picture of a situation and make better decisions on the ground.
Think of it as “SDOT’s 911 Center”
This work is often compared to a 911 center, where staff must be calm under pressure and quickly weigh priorities and available resources in real time to make the right decisions. In addition, dispatchers need to be great multitaskers.
When urgent issues are under control, dispatchers also take inquiries from the public for non-emergencies. This makes it important that dispatcher can quickly handle urgent – sometimes life and death – issues, and then change gears to patiently listen to and process less-urgent concerns. Such requests include things like pothole requests and helping a resident through the process of a using a parking pay station after SDOT’s parking meter shop has closed for the day.
Clear priorities
SDOT has clearly-established priorities for dispatchers regarding how we respond to issues. Our response team’s top priority is addressing situations that block traffic on major streets – as well as responding to conditions that could have life or safety-related concerns. After that, we focus on general inquiries, complaints, and other less urgent matters.
Many tools
Our team uses a variety of tools. Staff communicate via email, phone, and radios. They also process info via the police scanner, real time traffic cameras, and several software programs. One of our newer tools is a real-time dashboard and map used by SDOT, Seattle’s Police and Fire departments, and other regional and state agencies, which keeps everyone in the loop on current urgent incidents.
On the job 24/7/365
The need for this work never stops, so the Dispatch Center is open 24/7, with staff covering the day shift, swing shift, and night shift. Never stopping means that Radio Dispatchers are always at work on weekends and holidays too. To ensure full coverage when other staff are sick, sometimes a dispatcher will work two shifts in one day. We appreciate our Dispatch Team members for this level of dedication and service!
Thank you!
During National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, we thank our Radio Dispatchers for their vital work to keep us connected, moving, and safe all day, every day.