I NEED DIS PATCH

I NEED DIS PATCH, 2025 Patch by Tony Guerra and his son Jai Guerra.

Timothy Ologist writes, “Many who attend Burning Man don’t realize, nor could they fathom, the complexity of the behind-the-scenes operation to keep the event running day and night. The glue holding this operation together are the many radio dispatchers that dutifully manage radio traffic on the 80+ departmental radio channels that staff and volunteer rely on to communicate about everything from medical emergencies to the exact timing of the Daft Punk concert at the trash fence. Dispatchers answer incoming radio calls, provide information, and route callers to the appropriate resource or person if further info is needed. They also enforce protocol to keep radio channels appropriately available for critical information exchange, mostly with a smile that will never be seen, unless you’re an asshole, which will warrant audible scowls. Without our dispatchers, we’d truly just be wandering the desert looking for dust scowling at each other. We need Dis Patch-ers.”

The Burning Man Emergency Services Department (ESD) has a Dispatch center that functions similarly to a 911 dispatch center in the “default world,” but with radio communication rather than phone calls. It receives emergency calls, primarily via radio from participants and camps, and dispatches appropriate responding units like Fire, Medical, Rangers, Law Enforcement, and Mental Health teams. The Dispatch center is part of the ESD Communications Branch, which also handles the overall communication infrastructure for Black Rock City.