NAMPA, Idaho — They're on the front of the front lines, the first people contacted in what is usually the worst day of someone's life. Now, 911 dispatchers will officially be classified as first responders, when it comes to benefits.
Recently, Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 499 into law, now making it possible for 911 dispatchers to qualify for retirement under the rule of 80 through the public employee’s retirement system of Idaho. It's the same retirement system as police and fire.
“Basically, what that is, is it brings them to the rule of 80, so it's their years of service and their age have to equal 80 to be eligible for full retirement benefits,” said Nampa Police Chief Joe Huff. “Prior to the bill being passed, it was the rule of 90 which was equivalent to five more years of work.”
The Idaho Sheriff's Association proposed the legislation and testified before the Idaho Senate to get the bill passed, according to Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue.
Becky Justus has been a dispatcher with the Nampa Police Department for eight years.
“We're the first person they talk to, we help them with first aid, we help them get to a safe location while officers and EMS are responding, so we are the first, first responders,” Justus said.
She told KTVB she was excited about the news not only for herself but also for the new dispatchers coming in.
"Mentally, this job is tough. Talking to people every day talking about their problems and their emergencies and us trying to help them daily it does wear on our mental state and that eventually wears on our physical state so being able to retire early will help our quality of life,” Justus said.
Chief Huff says he's proud of this change since dispatchers are the first, first responders.
"We as police officers couldn't respond to calls accurately without having dispatchers receiving that information,” Huff said. “People, I think oftentimes don't realize that dispatchers might be taking a phone call for a theft one minute and then the next minute it may be a medical call for a family member, and they have their emotions all across the board."
This has been years in the making for Justus and her fellow dispatchers.
“We do CPR over the phone, we're assisting people with lifesaving measures over the phone so for them to classify us as first responders, that means everything to us,” Justus said.
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