A team from Memorial University is joining researchers from across the country who are looking at the occupational well-being of the people who take the calls when help is needed most.
It’s an area of occupational health and safety that’s often overlooked and researchers from MUN, the University of Winnipeg and MacEwan University are interested in gaining a better understanding of how the work dispatchers, 911 operators and call-takers do affects them.
Memorial’s Dr. Rosemary Ricciardelli is a founding member of the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment, and will help the team convert their findings into policy recommendations.
She says the pressures they face go beyond simply answering the call.
They already know from previous research in 2018 that call takers suffer severely from mental health challenges and they’re often overlooked by agencies. “They don’t recognize that person who’s literally there, before the police are there.”
Work on the study will begin this fall with the findings due by the fall of 2025.