The National Emergency Number Association expressed disappointment today that the Office of Management and Budget has decided not to reclassify public safety telecommunicators into the “protective service” job category. OMB announced its decision in a “Federal Register” notice today.
“Like so many in the 9-1-1 community, NENA is disappointed by today’s decision from the Office of Management and Budget not to reclassify ‘Public Safety Telecommunicators’ into the ‘Protective Service’ category,” NENA President Rob McMullen said in a statement. “Although we recognize this has become an emotionally-charged issue for many, NENA has provided substantive, evidence-based comments and advocacy, consistent with OMB’s data-driven approach to this statistical classification. OMB has made it clear that this is the only way to achieve our long-term goal of full reclassification. We hold out hope that future reclassification efforts across the public safety community will adopt an approach that is likewise aligned with the SOCPC [standard occupational classification policy committee]/OMB data requirements. Despite today’s setback, NENA will continue to advocate for an accurate statistical classification for 9-1-1 professionals to support critical research into the mental and physical impacts of 9-1-1 jobs, which differ substantially from those encountered by other non-public-safety ‘dispatcher’ professions.”
OMB said its “final decision is to adopt all of the SOCPC’s final recommendations with the exception of one. The SOCPC recommended no change to the title of the 2010 SOC occupation 43–5031 Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers for the 2018 revision. OMB has decided not to accept the SOCPC’s recommendation in this case and to change the title of the 2010 SOC occupation 43–5031 Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers to 43–5031 Public Safety Telecommunicators for the 2018 revision to the SOC. OMB made this decision to reflect better the full scope of occupations organized under this title.” —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com
Courtesy TRDaily