9-1-1 Dispatch Article

[Guest guest]

(The following text is from a 1999 on-line article found linked from the

personal web site posted by Jerome s. The article URL is

http://www.gjsentinel.com/auto/feed/news/local/1999/11/04/941729919.13643.57

45.0037.html - I thought I'd share it with the list, in case folks missed

checking out that link.)

911: Putting out call for recruits

By SHANNON JOYCE

There's an edge in her voice, but it's firm and deep, without the slightest

waver.

It manages to cut though the panic on the other end, getting the

frightened father to tell her if his baby is breathing. She had to ask a

few times before her question registered in his thoughts, before the father

could take a deep breath himself.

" You can have urgency without panic, " said Glen Klaich, the dispatcher's

supervisor, soon after the paramedics arrived at the home of the infant.

The difference can be a subtle one, but it is vital for emergency dispatchers.

In a sense, dispatchers are on the scene well before the police or

paramedics, listening to the caller as well as the noises that fill the

background. If they stay calm, chances are the caller will, too.

The shift supervisor the Friday before Halloween, Klaich expected the

phones in the dispatch center above the Grand Junction Police station to be

busier than normal with a rush of loud parties, drunk drivers and a few

early tricks.

Few callers realize what goes on in the large room filled with a dozen

computer screens and only half as many people. Radio traffic, ringing

phones and the clatter of keyboards often reach a dull roar, with most

dispatchers handling all three at the same time.

" Not just anybody can sit down and do this job, " said Jerry s. Since

he began working as an air traffic controller when he was 19 years old, he

said the technology has grown ten-fold. Dispatchers once used cards to

track calls, s said as he clicked from one of his five computer

screens to another.

When he became an emergency dispatcher in North Carolina nine years ago,

he only had one computer that showed warrants and criminal histories. Now,

dispatchers also have one that shows their current call, one that shows the

assignment of all their officers, one that can pinpoint any location in the

county and one that tracks the radio channels.

Add in the telephone console, and it's enough to scare a lot of trainees away.

The dispatch center is currently looking for new recruits, Klaich said,

hoping to cut down on the overtime clocked by the dispatchers when the

center is understaffed. The deadline to apply is Friday.

" There's not the option of not getting the work done, " Klaich said. The

phones will ring regardless of the number of people at the other end, he

said. For people who can handle the technology and the hours, Klaich said

it can be a real adrenaline rush.

" It's fun, it can get real exciting, " said dispatcher Edris. The

swing and night shifts tend to get the most action, she said, but the day

shift gives you some normal hours. Like police officers, the dispatchers

rotate shifts every few months.

" I don't like that we're working in the blind, " she said between calls.

" But I guess we have the advantage - we get to hear the person's voice, we

hear the background noise. "

What they don't hear is the ending, Edris said, what happens to the baby

that stopped breathing or the woman who saw a man try to break into her house.

" You really don't get closure, " Edris said. Sometimes she'll look in the

newspaper or watch the television news to find out what happened, but most

of the time she just wonders.

" You handle the call and it's over, that's it, " she said. She tries not to

get personally involved, but sometimes she can't help it.

The shootings at the Eastgate City Market on Sept. 3 broke that barrier,

she said. The fact that four people died that night stayed with her when

she went home and still lingers.

After the first call, the switchboard lit up, Klaich said, giving the

dispatchers little time to dwell on what happened.

It's that sensibility that allows the dispatchers to deal with tragedies

every day. They know when they come into work that a baby will stop

breathing, someone will have a heart attack and someone will go to the

hospital after a car accident.

" It's more involved than just answering the phone, " said dispatcher

Jerrett Broughton. " You have to keep your head while others are losing theirs. "

That's where the training comes in, Klaich said. Dispatchers go through

eight months of classes and call training before they ever sit at a console

by themselves. They learn CPR, the computer system, and how to guide

callers though a series of questions for every possible catastrophe.

A thick book filled with index cards sits at each station, covering

everything from childbirth to step-by-step directions for CPR. They cover

every possible aspect of the situation, including many questions that may

seem obvious but can be forgotten during a crisis.

The CPR card tells the caller to do exactly what the dispatcher says, not

what they remember from a class. For an emergency delivery, it tells the

person that the baby will be slippery and to be careful not to drop it.

Once the classroom work is completed, the dispatchers start listening to

calls, slowly taking over for their trainer.

Two dispatchers handle each call, with one taking the information from the

caller and the other giving it to the police. The call taker types updates

into the computer that automatically go to the dispatcher talking to law

enforcement or the paramedics. Each station and each dispatcher can do

everything, from answering calls to tracking down a certain officer.

Edris said it took her about three months of being on her own before she

felt completely comfortable.

Now, switching from one call to the next, she makes it look natural.

" You cannot be born knowing how to do this, " Edris said. " That's why we

start taking calls, learning how to talk on the phone, how to listen to the

radio and how to type all at the same time. "

For information on how to apply for a dispatcher position, call 244-3555.

Joyce can be reached via e-mail at sjoyce@....

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Great article, huh?

Happy to be here, proud to serve.

Olmstead

Communications Supervisor

~on the Central California coastline~

" Not presumed to be an official statement of my employing agency. "

Home E-mail: mailto:gryeyes@...

http://www.gryeyes.com/