Yasmen Barnett has spent the last 8 years in dispatch for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office in Central Florida. Yasmen attended University of Central Florida, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and her Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Administration. Striving to be a deputy or a lawyer, she knew her career goal was to be a public servant. It was not until a classmate of hers invited her to do a “sit along” with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, that she made the decision to pursue a career in public safety communications.
Once she turned 21, Yasmen decided to continue her path in dispatch to push herself as far as she could. Her career quickly progressed as she worked her way from call taker to supervisor in May 2020; while working every position in between for both law and fire disciplines. Yasmen accepted a position with RapidSOS as a district management associate for IAmResponding in August 2022. She still dispatches part-time, but realized she had a passion to help those behind the headset do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Yasmen’s public servant attitude never left but grew into wanting to help those on the frontlines by providing impeccable information and data delivery to assist them in providing emergency services.
Yasmen believes people pursue careers in public safety communications due to a desire to give back to their community. A lot of skill is involved in being a telecommunicator, but she feels you grow immensely within as well. Yasmen was drawn to public service after her sister survived domestic violence and spoke about her calls to 9-1-1 during those trying times. That helped in her decision to contribute to the community. With her position at RapidSOS, Yasmen’s focus shifted from helping citizens directly to helping those who help their citizens and responding field personnel.
While serving for the Osceola Sheriff’s Office, Yasmen’s duties as a supervisor included back-up call taking, providing breaks to dispatch, and administrative duties involved with personnel and training. Yasmen now spends every day speaking directly with other first responders to determine their needs and supporting a product that can greatly affect how they receive their information. While in dispatch, Yasmen enjoyed the comradery with coworkers and the success stories that ensured you were making a difference. She finds the same comradery with RapidSOS, but with increased success stories and the incredible difference she can make every day.
In public safety communications, Yasmen gained patience, resiliency, and knowledge on the way people work, their thought processes and how to navigate crisis. More importantly, she learned a lot about herself and what she needed to do personally to be successful. Yasmen uses those same skills today relating with first responders to provide a product to help them in their everyday duties.
Yasmen acknowledges the havoc this profession plays on your mental health and is hopeful all leaders can help relieve the negative aspects and encourage centers to adapt and flourish. Between the stress, calls and environment, Yasmen says retention in public safety communications may look like bonuses, education reimbursement, static work schedules, training budgets and different health incentives. One of the best ways to make your center most marketable is through great staff, amazing leaders and an overall supportive environment. Early in her career, Yasmen felt as if she did not have a voice. In her tenure as a supervisor, she hopes she gave her squad the encouragement needed to have those difficult conversations.
Yasmen hopes to grow in her career at RapidSOS and take on new challenges within the company. She is very goal oriented and makes a concerted effort to be involved in as much of the public safety communications industry as possible. She has spoken at conferences over the last few years and looks to continue that effort.
To the newer public safety telecommunicators, Yasmen recommends pursuing industry specific designations and trainings. Yasmen achieved her designations of ENP and CMCP in 2022, and she also serves as co-chair for 911der Womans’ Florida Events Committee.
Yasmine says the most critical skill to have in this field is resiliency. Whether it is environment, workload, call stressors or technology, it is important for everyone to remain resilient. She gives many thanks to those that have helped her along her journey in dispatch and public safety. Her good friend Erika Lakey and her previous supervisors Christi Mullis, Steve Gordon and Ann Harris have taught her so much during her career. She would like to thank her current and previous members of Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Squad D for allowing her to be their supervisor. She also gives many thanks to two big influencers and amazing role models she has had through her career in Sara Weston and Ricardo Martinez. If you would like to network with Yasmen, she can be found on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasmenebarnett/.
