Some calls are fairly straightforward. Someone has an incident to report, you gather the details, and you send help. But then there are those other calls. The ones that test your patience, your training, and your skills.
These callers are not trying to frustrate you. They have important information to share, but they might not know how to say it, or they might not have an accurate grasp of reality. When communication breaks down, it is incredibly difficult to give them the help they need.
Challenging Callers, 4th Edition: Communicating with Children, the Elderly and the Mentally Impaired is designed to give you a basic understanding of how to communicate with these challenging caller types. We start with the big picture, focusing on active listening and general guidelines for communicating with verbally impaired callers.
Then we break down some of the most common severe mental illnesses and impairments, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and Alzheimer’s Disease. We also cover specific strategies for handling your "frequent flyers." And finally, we look at communicating with elderly callers and child callers, with a special focus on key considerations for calls involving autistic individuals.
As a public safety communications professional, you need to be a master communicator. This course will help you build the skills to demonstrate that mastery, no matter who is on the other end of the line.
- Teacher: Candice Solie