The Ambulance Dispatcher / Scheduling Coordinator is responsible for coordinating day-to-day ambulance operations, allocating crews and vehicles, managing scheduled patient transfers, supporting event medical deployments, maintaining staff schedules, and holding the company on-call phone during assigned periods.
The role requires strong communication, organisation, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. The post-holder will act as a key point of contact between ambulance crews, patients, healthcare facilities, event clients, managers, and other stakeholders, including during out-of-hours or on-call periods where required.
This is an operational support role and requires the ability to work under pressure, prioritise tasks, maintain accurate records, and respond professionally to changing operational demands.
Key Responsibilities
1. Ambulance Dispatch
- Receive and process ambulance transport requests, event cover requirements, and operational calls.
- Allocate appropriate vehicles and crew members based on availability, skill mix, location, task type, and service requirements.
- Maintain communication with ambulance crews throughout their shift.
- Monitor vehicle and crew status, including availability, delays, task completion, and operational readiness.
- Support crews with route, destination, patient, and logistical information where required.
- Update internal dispatch, scheduling, or operational systems accurately.
- Escalate operational issues, delays, incidents, or resource shortages to management.
- Ensure dispatch decisions are safe, appropriate, and aligned with company procedures.
2. Scheduling and Rostering
- Prepare and maintain staff rosters for ambulance shifts, patient transfers, event cover, and other operational duties.
- Coordinate crew availability, annual leave, sickness, shift swaps, and short-notice cover.
- Ensure rosters meet operational requirements, including appropriate clinical grade, driving status, skill mix, and working time considerations.
- Liaise with staff to confirm shifts, availability, and changes to schedules.
- Assist with forward planning for upcoming events, contracts, and peak operational periods.
- Maintain accurate records of scheduled shifts, attendance, changes, cancellations, and cover arrangements.
- Support managers in identifying staffing gaps, recurring availability issues, or operational risks.
3. On-Call Phone and Out-of-Hours Coordination
- Hold and monitor the company on-call phone during assigned periods.
- Answer operational calls professionally and promptly.
- Respond to urgent staffing, scheduling, ambulance, patient transport, and event medical queries.
- Triage incoming calls and determine whether the matter can be resolved directly or requires escalation.
- Contact crews, managers, clients, hospitals, patients, or other relevant parties as required.
- Arrange short-notice crew cover where needed due to sickness, delays, operational changes, urgent bookings, or increased demand.
- Record all relevant calls, actions taken, decisions made, and escalations.
- Escalate clinical, operational, safeguarding, complaints, health and safety, or high-risk issues to the appropriate manager without delay.
- Maintain confidentiality when handling patient, staff, client, and operational information.
- Ensure clear handover of any unresolved issues at the end of the on-call period.
4. Patient Transport Coordination
- Book and coordinate scheduled patient transfers, including routine, low-risk, and non-routine journeys as appropriate.
- Confirm patient details, pickup and destination information, mobility requirements, equipment needs, escort requirements, and timing.
- Liaise with hospitals, care facilities, patients, families, and other relevant parties.
- Monitor planned transfers and make adjustments where delays, cancellations, or changes occur.
- Ensure crews receive appropriate information before attending the transfer.
- Record updates, delays, cancellations, and completion details accurately.
- Ensure confidentiality and professional handling of patient information at all times.
5. Event Medical Scheduling
- Support the planning and scheduling of medical cover for events.
- Allocate staff, vehicles, equipment, and deployment times in line with event requirements.
- Communicate operational details to crews, including location, reporting time, event contacts, parking, access routes, expected duties, and finish times.
- Assist in preparing crew briefings, deployment sheets, and operational information.
- Monitor event staffing requirements and flag any shortfalls or risks to management.
- Support last-minute changes to event rosters, cover levels, and deployment arrangements.
- Maintain accurate records of confirmed event staffing and operational allocations.
6. Communication and Administration
- Act as a professional first point of contact for operational queries.
- Communicate clearly with ambulance crews, managers, clients, hospitals, care facilities, patients, relatives, and other stakeholders.
- Maintain accurate logs of calls, bookings, dispatch actions, roster changes, and operational decisions.
- Update internal systems, spreadsheets, scheduling software, dispatch platforms, and records as required.
- Prepare handover notes for managers, controllers, or incoming dispatch staff.
- Assist with general administration linked to ambulance operations.
- Support the preparation of reports, staffing summaries, operational updates, or service information where required.
- Handle sensitive information in line with GDPR, confidentiality, and company policies.
7. Compliance, Governance and Safety
- Follow company policies, operational procedures, and clinical governance requirements.
- Ensure staff and vehicle allocations are appropriate for the task.
- Report operational risks, incidents, near misses, complaints, safeguarding concerns, or service issues through the correct channels.
- Support compliance with working time, rest periods, training requirements, role-specific competencies, and company standards.
- Maintain accurate and auditable records of operational decisions and communications.
- Promote a safe, professional, and patient-focused service.
- Escalate any concern that could affect patient safety, staff safety, service delivery, or company reputation.
Person SpecificationEssential Requirements
- Strong organisational and administrative skills.
- Excellent communication and telephone manner.
- Ability to work calmly under pressure.
- Good IT skills, including email, spreadsheets, scheduling systems, or operational software.
- Ability to prioritise competing demands and make practical decisions.
- High level of accuracy and attention to detail.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information.
- Reliable, professional, and able to take ownership of tasks.
- Flexible approach to working hours, including evenings, weekends, bank holidays, or shift work where required.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Desirable Requirements
- Previous experience in ambulance dispatch, transport coordination, healthcare scheduling, logistics, rostering, or emergency services.
- Experience preparing staff rosters or coordinating shift-based teams.
- Knowledge of ambulance operations, patient transport, event medical cover, or healthcare environments.
- Experience using scheduling, dispatch, CRM, or workforce management systems.
- EMT, first aid, healthcare, logistics, or control room background would be an advantage but is not essential.
Pay: €29,000.00-€35,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
