Founder/Communications Dispatcher III
Help For the Headset/Santa Clara County Communications
FELTON, California
Shannon Polito is a Communications Dispatcher III for Santa Clara County Communications in California, working in all three communities: law, fire, and EMS. She has been a dispatcher for 14 years, a Certified Tactical Dispatcher for six years, and a Communications Training Officer (CTO) for eight years. As the senior CTO, Shannon trains the other trainers and is responsible for ongoing departmental training. She is a California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) subject matter expert and is the CLETS instructor for her agency's in-house academy. Shannon recently received her Peer Support certificate and founded her agency's fledgling Peer Support Program.
Shannon began a significant research project into cumulative post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) several years ago, leading to her teaching the subject at several dispatcher conferences throughout the United States. During her research, Shannon's deep heart for helping those who help others developed into yet another passion outside of the work of dispatching. She began a wellness team at her agency and has spent the last few years trying to help her coworkers be the best dispatchers they can be by assisting them to be the healthiest and most resilient people they can be.
Shannon wanted to channel her passion and energy into becoming a resource to those outside her agency. She is an instructor for South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium, teaching Interpersonal Communications, Wellness, and CLETS learning domains in the Basic Dispatch Academy multiple times a year. She is a contracted instructor for 21CLETS and has recently started her business, Help for the Headset, a company dedicated to the health and well-being of dispatchers.
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Sunday, August 6, 2023
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM