Fire Dispatcher - City of San Diego, CA

See NOTE(S) below for future wage increases and/or additional compensation opportunities.

YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO PASS A COMPUTER-BASED PERFORMANCE TEST TO BE CONSIDERED FOR FIRE DISPATCHER POSITIONS.  

Fire Dispatcher positions receive and evaluate requests for fire and emergency medical service; dispatch appropriate fire and/or paramedic units to the incident; and perform other duties as assigned.

Fire-Rescue Dispatchers work on a Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and are the primary answering point for all 911, 10-digit emergency, and non-emergency phone calls from within the City of San Diego (Fire-Rescue Department has dispatch contracts with Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City, and Poway); elicit essential incident information from callers; determine the nature and extent of the request, the priority of the problem and the need for dispatching police, fire or medical field units; enter appropriate information by typing on a computer keyboard into a dispatch format; answer routine inquiries and refer calls not requiring dispatch to the appropriate department or agency.
 
       NOTES:

• Employees in job classifications represented by Municipal Employees Association (MEA) are scheduled to receive the following general wage increases:

4% effective 7/1/24 

2% effective 1/1/25 

5% effective 7/1/25  

• In addition to the scheduled general wage increases, the following special salary wage increase is also scheduled to take effect for Fire Dispatcher:       

5% effective 1/1/25

5% effective 1/1/26

• Eligible benefitted employees originally hired on or after July 10, 2021, will be automatically enrolled in the San Diego City Employees Retirement System (SDCERS).
• Fire Dispatcher employees work 12-hour shifts (44/36 rotation schedule).
• Fire Dispatcher employees may be required to work overtime during training, if needed, on cleared positions.
• Fire Dispatcher employees may be required to work during all City holidays.
• Fire Dispatcher employees are eligible for 17.5% additional pay after successfully completing the paid mandatory Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) certification course.
• Fire Dispatcher employees are subject to mandated overtime beyond their scheduled shift with short notice to maintain staffing levels.
• The communication center in the Fire-Rescue Department operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with day, evening, and night shifts. Dispatcher I employees will be rotated to different shifts on a periodic basis.