California Emergency Dispatcher Association

CAL-EDA is proud to be able to send 2 Oakland Police Department Dispatchers to the Law Enforcement Support Agency (LESA) in Washington state. They will be there for three days for Peer Support for our dispatch colleagues who lost four officers recently.

While there are many great programs to help dispatchers who have gone through traumatic events, i.e. Peer Support, Chaplains, EAP, etc, nothing can compare to those who have previously gone through a similar experience. These two Oakland Police Dispatchers will be able to truly empathize with the LESA Dispatchers – as they have gone through an equally horrific chain of events.

It is times like this when I am most proud of our profession, of our Association, to be able to offer help to dispatchers in need. As a group, we rarely like to ask for help, but truly appreciate it once it arrives. One thing I told the Assistant Director of LESA when we were talking was, ‘Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and don’t turn any help away…Dispatchers from all over the country want to do something, so let them’.

Join me in wishing our colleages a safe trip, and hope that they are able to reach out and touch the lives of the dispatchers in Washington. This is the epitome of ‘doing the right thing’, the very foundation of the Association.

As always, thank you for your service. You truly do make a difference.

Kurt

FINALLY! The day we have been waiting for is finally here – the day we start the membership drive, reveal the calendar of events, both classes and fun activities, reveal YOUR new website to everyone!
Welcome to the website, we hope you will visit often, as the content will be updated regularly. If there is anything you would like to see on the site, please let us know.
The membership drive! Anyone who has joined, or will join, from July 1 to December 31 is going to get a BONUS for joining – the chance to attend a class of YOUR CHOICE in 2010 at no cost to you! That’s right, sign up before the end of the year, and you get a FREE CLASS. Check out the calendar – we have some really good ones lined up.
The Association needs you – to join, to talk it up with your co-workers and friends from other agencies, to participate in the classes and at some of the great FUN things we have planned for 2010. Always wanted to go deep sea fishing but never been – we got that! Want to watch an excellent presentation on some of the more memorable events handled by LAPD – we got that – and ONLY we have that! Want to have a great time camping with friends and family, ON THE OCEAN in Pismo – got that too!  Take a look around, familiarize yourself with the website. Ask questions. Get invoved. The more participation we have from POLICE and FIRE (and a big welcome to the FIRE FOLKS!) Dispatchers, the more fun it will be for everyone.  How about training conference. Want one? We have that too – in 2011!
Thanks for stopping by – come back often, tell your friends.

JOIN TODAY!
Kurt

Only 19 more days until CAL-EDA makes some major announcements on the website, www.cal-eda.org !!!

We will reveal the mission statement for the new association and the 2010 calendar.

November 1st will also begin an exciting membership drive for the NEW association, which will include ALL Public Safety Dispatchers, both police and fire, in California.

If you are currently and active member of the California Tactical Dispatcher Association (CTDA), your membership will roll over to the new association until time for renewal. Please pass this information along to any other CTDA members in your agency.

If you have ANY questions, please let me know.

Stay tuned – big things are right around the corner!

Kurt Anderson
President

Another step forward today. We continue to be right on track, with the next two weeks bringing MAJOR changes to all California Public Safety Dispatchers!

Hello CALIFORNIA Dispatchers!

Welcome to the newly formed California Emergency Dispatcher Association. We are truly glad you have found us, and please, pass along information about the new association to everyone in your communications center! The more members we have in the association, the better it will be for everyone!

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For the last six years, the California Tactical Dispatcher Association has been used by law enforcement agencies from all over the United States and Canada for many different reasons.

CTDA has provided support for agencies looking to create new Tactical Dispatch Teams, from offering ideas about how to start a team and member selection to samples of Policies and Procedures and After Action Reports.  The Outreach Team traveled to Irving, Texas to teach the basic course to 21 new Tactical Dispatchers.   CTDA has held relative regional training meetings up and down the state, from Santa Rosa to Chula Vista.  The most important thing CTDA has done is provided training at our annual Training Conferences over 500 dispatchers from across the United States, as far away as Alaska and Vermont.  We have met dispatchers from across the state and across the nation, and lifelong friendships have been made, and rekindled, at our conferences.

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