If you have never taken a tour of the 911 Center on Madison, you have missed a fine example of a municipal building. It was designed with a genuine passion for excellence from both the police and fire personnel assigned to plan it. Many people that have city jobs in other agencies would give their right arm to work inside of it today—It is definitely better than riding the back of a truck all day or standing in the middle of the street in humid, 90-plus days or freezing, 20 below-zero days directing traffic or writing parking tickets.

After reading a Chicago 911 Dispatcher blog, I noticed some discussion of this workplace that I found alarming and in need of our attention:

We're back.

And just in time for the 5th anniversary of 091101.

Our hearts go out to those who lost family members on that day. And also to those who lost family members in the War For Oil perpetuated by the idiot of a "leader" this country has. We find it repugnant that George Bush is pimping the [predominantly] male youth of America in this farce he calls a "War on Terrorism."

And we're still not ready. We'll never be ready - or "prepared" - for the next (note the lack of room for possibility that there won't be another) attack. Nothing in the world can ready the country - and particularly this city - for something so life-shattering. Chicago is not much closer to having preparations in place than it was on 10Sep01. But *shhhh* don't tell the public that. We'll just say this:

The city has prepared us (its first-and-foremost emergency communications employees) so well for a potential terrorist attack that if (God forbid) downtown gets attacked, if buildings crumble, the cloud of dust you see won't be from the collapsing buildings;

It'll be from our tennis shoes. There'll be so much rubber burning in the parking lot the grey concrete is going to look like tar.

Is this the type of person answering critical 911 Dispatch calls? Gives you a real level of comfort as you come in from the suburbs into Union Station and then ride the elevator every week-day to the 70th floor of the AON Building, the 88th Floor of the Sears Tower or the 65th floor of the John Hancock Building. All of these buildings would be within the top five downtown targets, but we can’t forget all our buddies at the Chicago Merc and other prime places for terrorist attacks.

And what about all of you city residents living at Lake Point Towers or some of the other prominent high-rises? Being on the 47th Floor might not have been as fashionable as you first thought.

DO NOT JUDGE ALL OF THEM HARSHLY

There were follow-up comments to this shocking post. In fairness, they should be read as well:

Thru respect and honor said...
It's sad and true that OEMC and this city are not completely prepared. Your post ("We're back") is a sad excuse.

911 then and now: Honor and dedication with God as keeper are for those who remain. Honorable true hero's brought us through 911. Police, Fire and many others along with citizens who gave their lives so that your Freedoms and your life may remain.

"After the planes through the tears came the Flag."

Dedication to this country and the flag for which it stands. Our footprints will be the ones you see for they will be leading the way and their direction is too and not away. God Bless each and everyone of you that served and are serving. God Bess America!

What a sad posting on this very day. You claim your heart goes out and yet your comments of running away and the Sept. 10th typo shows you made light of those that actually sacrificed here and continue to do so abroad, oil and Bush?

You thought more of running away and top posting the topic of dating Po's, then of genuinely honoring all the fallen. You have lost a blogger and any faith in your ability to remotely pave the way of any changes at OEMC.

"Yes, Chicago Dispatchers blog, what a sad day it is in deed!"

WHERE ARE THE LEADERS OF THIS CENTER?

Evidently, there are some concerns going in this center and they are not being dealt with properly. As they say, where there is smoke, there is fire, and this BLOG definitely shows that there are a lot of issues going on about mismanagement that will affect the public, not only in a major disaster, but even a small one. Many people do not work in great conditions and have their little gripes, but the first quote from the blog looks a lot more ominous than a little gripe.

The hiring practices, as well as the leadership and supervisory roles for this center should be thoroughly reviewed and upgraded. With all of the underemployed people in Chicago looking for jobs, there is no room for people that don’t take a serious job seriously or who create a bad work environment. They leave their colleagues, as well as the City, wide

open for lawsuits. Even more alarming is that some would “cut and run” at a time when everyone would be counting on them to do what they are paid to do?

How would you like to have called a 911 Center and gotten a recorded message that said you were dialing an invalid number? This is a true story outside Chicago, where the victim died on the front lawn while family members tried to figure out why 911 wasn’t working. By the time they called the non-emergency number, and an ambulance was dispatched, the victim had died.

Someone did not do their job in insuring the database included the victim’s house’s address, which is the way the phone call translates the calling party’s number into a residence. The victim’s family received a seven-figure sum for this person’s carelessness on the job. Hopefully, he is not collecting a pension for his “hard work” on the job.

Chicago: this is my call for the city to clean that center up. It, and the people of the metropolitan area, deserve better.

CARLINI-ISM: If you don’t like your job. Leave. Someone else can probably do a lot better.