Emergency Communications Operator Per Diem

St. Luke’s University Health Network; Allentown (Lehigh County); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

St. Luke’s University Health Network in Allentown, PA, seeks a skilled telecommunications dispatcher to support emergency and non-emergency responses. This role schedules patient transport, coordinates assets, and maintains clear communication with crews and supervisors.

You will monitor calls, enter data into the CAD system, and ensure timely, accurate documentation. Strong customer service and multitasking are essential for success in this fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or equivalent required.
• Emergency Medical Dispatch certification preferred.
• Complete NIMS 100/200/700/800 online training.
• Experience in computer operations and health care/ambulance billing.
• Excellent organizational skills and pleasant telephone manner.
• Ability to perform with minimal supervision.

Responsibilities

• Provide telecommunications with excellent customer service to external and internal customers.
• Direct SLETS staff to handle emergency and non-emergency calls promptly.
• Schedule and dispatch patient transport crews, equipment, or services.
• Relay dispatch assignments and information to crews and supervisors.
• Prepare daily work and run schedules.
• Monitor personnel and equipment locations to coordinate service.
• Determine service levels, equipment, and personnel needed for safe, efficient response.
• Enter data into CAD system and assign call priority.
• Monitor and operate a radio console.
• Record and maintain service requests and status information.
• Enter and modify information into local, state, and national databases.
• Consult with customers and supervisory staff to address questions or issues.
• Maintain knowledge of jurisdiction boundaries and service areas.
• Arrange repairs and asset allocation to restore service.
• Follow safety procedures and communicate traffic hazards to staff.
• Provide daily monitoring and status updates to ensure patient care documentation meets standards.

Skills

Customer service

Emergency dispatch

Communication

Team coordination

Scheduling

Radio/phone operation

Data entry

Education

High School diploma or equivalent

EMD certification (Preferred)

NIMS 100/200/700/800 online training

Healthcare/ambulance billing experience

Tools

Radio consoles

CAD dispatch system

Telecom software

Job description

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide telecommunications grounded in excellent customer service, providing service to both external and internal customers.
• Provides direction to SLETS staff members during the course of the day to ensure all emergency and non-emergency calls are handled in a timely manner.
• Schedule and dispatch patient transport crews, equipment, or services to appropriate locations according to customer requests, specifications, or needs, using radios or telephones.
• Relay dispatch assignments, messages, and information to or from patient transport crews, and supervisory staff using telephones or two-way radios.
• Prepare daily work and run schedules.
• Monitor personnel and/or equipment locations and system utilization in order to coordinate service and schedules.
• Determine levels of service, amount of equipment, vehicles, materials, or personnel required to satisfy the request for service in a safe and efficient manner.
• Determine and assign the level of priority of the call and enter the data into a computer-aided dispatch system for dispatch purposes.
• Monitor and operate a radio console.
• Record and maintain files of requests for service, missed call requests, and other system status information.
• Enter and modify information into local, state and national computer databases.
• Confer with customers and supervisory staff in order to address questions, problems, and requests for service or equipment.
• Maintain and understand jurisdictional boundaries, as well as thoroughfares, landmarks, public buildings and waterways within the response jurisdiction and facilities that are normally serviced or destination locations.
• Arrange for necessary repairs and appropriate allocation of assets in order to restore service and schedules.
• Maintain knowledge of rules, regulations, and procedures, including safety procedures for the purpose of assigning the appropriate response level to the service request. (Policies and procedures may refer to department policies and procedures related to emergency communications and disaster and special response plans.)
• Advise duty personnel and supervisory staff about traffic problems such as construction areas, accidents, congestion, weather conditions, and other hazards.
• Provide daily monitoring and status updates of tasks assigned to the patient transport crews to ensure that patient care documentation is received within the time standards as outlined by departmental and State Licensure Policy.

Physical and Sensory Requirements

• Sitting 8 hours per day; 3 hours at a time.
• Stand up to 1 hour per day; 30 minutes at a time.
• Walk up to 2 hours per day; 20 minutes at a time.
• Continuously fingering and handling for data entry, typing, etc. and occasional twisting and turning.
• Occasionally lift up to 20 lbs.
• Occasionally carry up to 15 lbs.
• Frequently stoops, bends, or reaches above shoulder level to retrieve files.
• Must be able to perceive attributes of an object through touch.
• Must be able to hear as it relates to normal conversation.
• Must be able to see as it relates to general, near, far, color, peripheral vision and vision monotony.

Education

High School diploma or equivalent required.

Training and Experience

• Emergency Medical Dispatch certification (Preferred).
• Successfully completed NIMS 100, 200, 700 and 800 online training.
• Obtain future additional card courses, certifications or other training requirements as dictated by the positional requirements.
• Maintain certifications and requirements and continuing educational requirements as designated.
• Experience in computer operations.
• Previous experience in health care/ambulance billing; radio communication skills; office skills including typing, filing, bookkeeping.
• Experience taking and recording minutes of meetings; excellent organizational skills; pleasant telephone manner.
• Ability to perform job with a minimum of direct supervision.

Company Overview and Equal Opportunity Statement

St. Luke's is proud of the skills, experience and compassion of its employees. The employees of St. Luke's are our most valuable asset! Individually and together, our employees are dedicated to satisfying the mission of our organization which is an unwavering commitment to excellence as we care for the sick and injured; educate physicians, nurses and other health care providers; and improve access to care in the communities we serve, regardless of a patient's ability to pay for health care. Thank you for your interest in St. Luke's!!

St. Luke's University Health Network is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 23,000 employees providing services at 16 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites. With annual net revenue in excess of $4 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital. SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. The Network’s flagship University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from Premier 13 times total and eleven years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. In 2021, St. Luke’s was identified as one of the 15 Top Health Systems nationally. St. Luke’s is the ONLY health care institution in the Lehigh Valley to be named a Top Workplace regionally repeating the exclusive honor for the third year in a row. Also, for the third straight year, St. Luke’s has been a Top Workplaces in the Philadelphia Region by the Philadelphia Inquirer, ranking 9th in the large employer category for 2025 and the only health care system in PA to receive this award. In 2025, St. Luke’s was recognized as a national Top Workplaces by USA Today, three years in a row, including the 3rd best health care system in the nation in 2023 and 2024. Lastly, in 2025, St. Luke’s was named a Top Workplace in New Jersey for the third year in a row.

Learn More Here.