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A staffing shortage is taking a toll at Luzerne County 911, according to county Executive Director Fred Rosencrans.
				&ldquo;Are we having morale issues? Absolutely. I don&rsquo;t see any way to fix it anytime soon. We&rsquo;re doing the best we can and trying to work with the staff the best we can,&rdquo; Rosencrans told county council during its Tuesday work session.
				Rosencrans said he currently has 21 telecommunicator vacancies and has been having &ldquo;an extremely hard time&rdquo; filling those positions.
				On top of that, several 911 workers had to quarantine for coronavirus-related issues, county Manager C. David Pedri said Wednesday.
				As a result, existing staffers have been required to put in &ldquo;exorbitant amounts&rdquo; of overtime, Rosencrans said.
				The administration is working with the AFSCME union representing 911 telecommunicators on possible ways to mitigate last-minute overtime mandates, which are the major concern for staffers, he said.
				Telecommunicators start at $15.65 per hour. They are are cross-trained to both process calls and dispatch police and other emergency responders, he said.
				Attracting 911 applicants is a challenge for many emergency call centers throughout the country that has worsened during the pandemic, he said.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the industrial park, and you have places like Chewy.com starting out with the same hourly rate for a telecommunicator at our facility where you don&rsquo;t have to give up nights/weekends/holidays, be recorded, be under extreme amounts of stress or take a call for a baby not breathing, Rosencrans told council. &ldquo;Those are the challenges we face everyday.&rdquo;
				New recruits must undergo extensive training and face a &ldquo;huge learning curve,&rdquo; he said.
				The department tried to address vacancies last year by beefing up advertising.
				Openings are periodically posted in the human resources section at <a href="https://www.governmentjobs.com/CAREERS/LUZERNECOUNTY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.luzernecounty.org</a>.
				For now, Rosencrans said his agency is &ldquo;doing the best we can with the staffing levels that we have.&rdquo;
				Council Chairman Tim McGinley thanked Rosencrans and his staff for making a &ldquo;tremendous amount of accommodations.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;We know it&rsquo;s difficult. We appreciate all your efforts and your staff&rsquo;s efforts,&rdquo; he said.
				The center processes calls for 178 police, fire and emergency medical service agencies in 76 municipalities countywide.
				Rosencrans said he is &ldquo;extremely proud&rdquo; of his staff.
				&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s really stepping up. It&rsquo;s an extremely stressful time. I&rsquo;m very fortunate to have such a phenomenal staff,&rdquo; he said.

Luzerne County 911 staffing shortages hurting morale, agency head says