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UCSO 911 Caught Doing Something Right - Director

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UCSO 911 Caught Doing Something Right - Director

(Image contains header and UCSO 9-1-1 Communications Logo)

Union County Sheriff's Office · 9-1-1
Hey.
Yes, You.
Welcome.
You were noticed.

Most people pocket the card and move on.
You scanned it. That already says something.

VOICE
Hey.
This card was given to you on purpose.

Nate Coffield here, 9-1-1 Director for the Union County Sheriff's Office. Our team runs one of the most important operations in this county. We answer the calls nobody ever wants to make, and we do it every single day.

You're here because you stood out, and what we saw impressed us.

The way you stayed composed. The way you kept moving without being asked. The way you treated people like they mattered. That's not common. That's exactly what this work requires.

Have you ever thought about a career
where your voice could help someone
on their worst day?
Stay with us here. This is not a generic "we are hiring" page. This is an "we noticed you" page.
NOTICED
You did not get
this card by accident.

This card wasn't handed out because the team needs warm bodies. It was handed to you because you looked like someone who belongs here.

The best dispatchers on our team didn't come from other dispatch centers. They came from places that demanded the same thing this job demands: calm, fast thinking, and the ability to keep people steady when everything is moving at once.

  • The drive-through worker running a headset, taking payment, calling back an order, and still handing you the right bag with a smile. Some of them are genuinely better multitaskers than people who've been dispatching for years.
  • The server who remembers every table, every modification, every drink refill, and still makes every person feel like the only one in the room
  • The receptionist keeping up a conversation, handling three clients, and never losing track of where they are with each
  • The grocery cashier moving a line of twelve people while answering questions, handling a price check, and training someone new without missing a beat

Dispatching is important communication in rapid succession, handled with calm and control.

If you're reading this thinking "Yeah, that sounds like my job already" — you're not wrong. And that's exactly the point.
LEAD
Who we are.
What you'd be joining.
Nate Coffield Nate Coffield, 

Communications Director

____________________________

UCSO 9-1-1 Communications Logo

UCSO 911 Logo

After 14+ years in this field, including time as a lead instructor at a major metropolitan dispatch center, what stands out most isn't any single call. It's the people who answer them.

This team is something worth being part of. They show up, they carry weight, and they make each other better. That culture was built on purpose, and it's protected the same way.


  • The voice always heard but rarely seen, and proud of it
  • The air traffic controllers of the ground, managing movement, priorities, safety, and timing in real time
  • A lifeline for the community and for every officer and firefighter who depends on a clear, steady voice
  • People who walk in as one version of themselves and grow into something stronger
This job changes people. Not because it's hard, though it is. Because doing work that matters, alongside people who care, has a way of doing that.
BUILT
Dispatch experience required?
Nope.

Nobody on this team walked in knowing everything. That's what training is for. The team will teach the craft: every system, every protocol, every skill needed to do this job well.

  • How to take calls and control the conversation
  • How to use every system and tool on the console
  • How to run the radio and manage multiple channels
  • How to prioritize fast and document clearly under pressure
  • How to stay steady when everything around you is moving

What the team can't teach is what you've already shown:

  • Work ethic that doesn't need to be managed
  • Calm under pressure. Real calm, not forced calm.
  • Communication that's clear even when things aren't
  • The judgment to juggle everything at once without falling apart
Bring those things to the table,
and the rest gets built together.
RESPOND
So what's the job,
really?

A Communications Officer is the first point of contact when someone's world is falling apart. The team takes control of the moment, gathers what's needed, and gets the right help moving.

Here's what it actually looks like:

  • Answering emergency and non-emergency calls and owning the conversation from the first word
  • Asking the right questions fast, because the right information saves time and time saves lives
  • Keeping callers focused and as calm as possible while help is on the way
  • Dispatching police, fire, and EMS and keeping them coordinated in real time
  • Documenting everything clearly so nothing gets missed and nothing gets lost
This team doesn't just answer phones.
They help run the incident.
READY
A normal shift
looks like this.
  • The team gets briefed, sits down at the console, and takes ownership of the chair
  • Calls come in, sometimes back to back, sometimes all at once
  • Listening, typing, thinking, and talking, all at the same time, all without dropping a thread
  • One dispatcher might be guiding someone through CPR while another is coordinating three units on the radio
  • Someone has to keep police and fire pointed in the right direction. Someone has to wake them up, remind them where the call is, and occasionally let them know where the donuts are. That's this team, and they own it.
  • The gear shifts happen fast and the team stays calm through all of it
  • There's real camaraderie here, the kind that comes from doing hard things together, shift after shift
  • Over time, the people on this team become some of the most important people in each other's lives, because very few people outside this room truly understand what happens inside it
Your brain will not be bored. It will be employed.
REAL
Real talk.
This job isn't for everyone.

The team works holidays. They work overtime. They carry stress that most people never see. They are expected to stay calm, professional, and steady even when the situation is anything but.


And they walk out knowing they made a real difference. Every single shift. That's what makes the rest worth it.

There are moments nobody on this team ever forgets:

  • Guiding someone through childbirth over the phone and hearing a baby take its first breath
  • Staying on the line with a scared child, keeping them calm, until help walks through the door
  • Hearing sirens in the background knowing the clear, fast information gathered in those first seconds got responders to exactly the right place
  • Finding someone who can't tell you where they are, a lost voice asking for help, and being the calm that gets them found
This job is not always dramatic. It is not always easy. But it is always real. If you want your work to matter, this is the kind of work that delivers.
YOU
Here's why we think
you belong on this team.

That card wasn't handed out for just showing up. It was handed out for doing the job well, in a way that caught attention.

  • Staying calm while everything around you is in motion
  • Communicating clearly without being asked to slow down or repeat yourself
  • Handling pressure without letting it change how you treat people
  • Taking pride in doing things right, not just done
  • Moving with the kind of work ethic that doesn't need to be managed

Those things don't show up on a resume. They show up in how someone moves through a shift. That's what was seen. That's why you're here.
MATTERS
Last thing.
Then get back to your day.

Most people would've pocketed that card and forgotten about it. You didn't. That's already more than most.

When you're ready, and there's a feeling you will be, this team will be here. Not because the seat needs to be filled, but because the right people are worth waiting for.

Dispatchers are the real first, first responders.
Sometimes the most important voice in an emergency
is the first one someone hears.

Also, if you know someone else who moves the way you do, send them our way.

Nate Coffield Communications Director · Union County Sheriff's Office
ncoffield@unioncountyohio.gov
Union County 9-1-1 Communications Center