MACNLOW’s Basic 40-Hour Dispatch School utilizes a unique and practical combination of lecture, personal assessment, small group exercises, skill-building exercises, and role play to cement learning. Our instructors for this course are all highly-qualified, experienced dispatchers or dispatch supervisors. The cost is $750 per person. (SNC approved: MNA2022-2466 traditional classroom or MNA2025-6065 virtual classroom/hybrid course; meets Module I requirements).
Day One: Welcome to Dispatch
Duties and Responsibilities, Dispatcher Roles, Technology, Integrity and Responsibility
Day Two: Professional Interpersonal Communications
DiSC Behavioral Profile, Listening Techniques, Call Control Skills, Stress Handling Techniques
Day 3: Radio Communications
Police/Fire/EMS calls, Emergency v Non-Emergency calls, Interoperability, Incident Command
Day 4: Call Intake and Call Handling
Key Questions - the 6 Ws, Call Sequencing and Clarifying, Over-Rating or Under-Rating the Call, Caller Empathy, Handling Different Types of Calls
Day 5: Skill Building, Client Services, and Telephone Etiquette
Skill building using all techniques and information from the week; serving the public, dispatch, law enforcement, fire and EMS; doing the job well and politely, making all of us look good!
Faculty: Rich Thacker brings over 19 years of dispatch experience to MACNLOW courses, including 16 years at Eaton County Central Dispatch where he served as CTO, supervisor, and training coordinator. A CMCP and ENP-certified professional who also has a military police background and three Army Commendations for Meritorious Service, Rich instructs in MACNLOW's Basic and Advanced 40-Hour Dispatch Schools along with specialized courses on Active Shooter Incidents, Tactical Dispatching, the Opioid Crisis in Dispatch, and more. A highly-rated instructor with hundreds of five-star reviews, Rich infuses his expertise, energy, and humor into every class.
| 11/16/2026 - 11/20/2026 |    |