Crisis Communications

The definitive guide to crisis call-taking and dispatching

There are over 45,000 reported suicides annually in the United States. For every completed suicide, there are 50 others that call 911 or a suicide prevention hotline as a cry for help before or during a suicide attempt. Additionally, dispatch centers are often the initial "first responder" when hostage events or barricaded suspect events occur. With these statistics in mind, dispatchers must know the delicate balance that they are responsible for during family emergencies and various crisis calls. In the ‘988-transfer’ world, communications centers still need to be trained for all types of recognition and referral.

American Emergency Preparedness have been working with clinicians and line professionals to give your staff the best practices used in today’s crisis situations. As a veteran, Lead Educator Ted Bourgeois understands the need for 911 professionals to be present for our most vulnerable populations. Veterans can be the forgotten victims in today’s society; their needs have to be recognized and fulfilled. 

​Our AEP Crisis Communications Toolbox will make you a more effective call taker and dispatcher, giving you the tools to increase responder safety and improve the chances of successful outcomes. As emergency communicators, we are vital caregivers in the public safety circle. What do we need to say to suicidal callers or depressed subjects? What do we need to know about ‘suicide-by-cop’ precipitators? How do we prepare the first responders with a complete picture of what they are responding to? How do we transition between being caregivers, information gatherers, and tactical response dispatchers in suicidal caller events?

​Topics Include:

• Myths versus facts of suicide and ‘suicide-by-cop’ events, and your responsibilities as a call-taker/dispatcher

• Terms to use or avoid with volatile callers

• Specific call-taking and dispatching techniques for responder safety

• Domestic/Family Violence: the dispatcher's vital role in information gathering

• The Exclusive AEP Crisis Communications Toolbox: What it is, and how to use it for suicide/suicide-by-cop scenarios, depressed and upset callers, domestic violence, and hostage taking/barricaded callers.​

There are a lot of role-playing and call-taking scenarios in this dynamic workshop. In addition to enrolling, options are available for you to host this class for your agency or your region. This workshop can be combined with other workshops to build a multi-day training experience to satisfy all your training needs.

Workshop Length:

8 Hours

All AEP workshops meet the criteria for Public Safety Continued Education hours.

Want to take this workshop on your own time? This workshop is offered as an online course via the AEP Online Academy. Enroll Today!

To register for this workshop, visit our workshop calendar. If you have any questions, e-mail booking@ameri-prep.com or call (401) 344-0054 between 8am-4:30pm Eastern time.

data in this workshop description collected from the CDC and NIMH.