NENA President Responds to OMB Decision Not to Reclassify Public Safety Telecommunicators
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From NENA President Rob McMullen, ENP:
Like you, 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. 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 / 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.
