911 Dispatchers
A TRIBUTE TO DISPATCHERS By Chief Thomas Wagoner, Loveland Co. PD Someone once asked me if I thought that answering telephones for a living was a profession. I said, "I thought it was a calling."And so is dispatching. I have found in my law enforcement career that dispatchers are the unsung heroes of public safety. ...They miss the excitement of riding in a speeding car with lights flashing and sirens wailing. They can only hear of the bright orange flames leaping from a burning building. They do not get to see the joy on the face of worried parents as they see their child begin breathing on its own, after it has been given CPR. Dispatchers sit in darkened rooms looking at computer screens and talking to voices from faces they never see. It's like reading a lot of books, but only half of each one. Dispatchers connect the anxious conversations of terrified victims, angry informants, suicidal citizens and grouchy officers. They are the calming influence of all of them - the quiet, competent voices in the night that provide the pillars for the bridges of sanity and safety. They are expected to gather information from highly agitated people who can't remember where they live, what their name is, or what they just saw. And then, they are to calmly provide all that information to the officers, firefighters, or paramedics without error the first time and every time. Dispatchers are expected to be able to do five things at once - and do them well. While questioning a frantic caller, they must type the information into a computer, tip off another dispatcher, put another caller on hold, and listen to an officer run a plate for a parking problem. To miss the plate numbers is to raise the officer's ire; to miss the caller's information may be to endanger the same officer's life. But, the officer will never understand that. Dispatchers have two constant companions, other dispatchers and stress. They depend on one, and try to ignore the other. They are chastened by upset callers, taken for granted by the public, and criticized by the officers. The rewards they get are inexpensive and infrequent, except for the satisfaction they feel at the end of a shift, having done what they were expected to do. Dispatchers come in all shapes and sizes, all races, both sexes, and all ages. They are blondes, and brunettes, and redheads. They are quiet and outgoing, single, or married, plain, beautiful, or handsome. No two are alike, yet they are all the same. They are people who were selected in a difficult hiring process to do an impossible job. They are as different as snowflakes, but they have one thing in common. They care about people and they enjoy being the lifeline of society - that steady voice in a storm - the one who knows how to handle every emergency and does it with style and grace; and, uncompromised competence. Dispatchers play many roles; therapist, doctor, lawyer, teacher, weatherman, guidance counselor, psychologist, priest, secretary, supervisor, politician, and reporter. And few people must jump through the emotional hoops on the trip through the joy of one callers birthday party, to the fear of another callers burglary in progress, to the anger of a neighbor blocked in their drive, and back to the birthday callers all in a two minute time frame. The emotional roller coaster rolls to a stop after an 8 or 10 hour shift, and they are expected to walk down to their car with steady feet and no queasiness in their stomach - because they are dispatchers. If they hold it in, they are too closed. If they talk about it, they are a whiner. If it bothers them, it adds more stress. If it doesn't, they question themselves, wondering why. Dispatchers are expected to have: -the compassion of Mother Theresa; -the wisdom of Solomon; -the interviewing skills of Oprah Winfrey; -the gentleness of Florence Nightingale; -the patience of Job; -the voice of Barbara Streisand; -the knowledge of Einstein; -the answers of Ann Landers; -the humor of David Letterman; -the investigative skills of Sgt. Joe Friday; -the looks of Melanie Griffith or Don Johnson; -the faith of Billy Graham; -the energy of Charo; -and the endurance of the Energizer Bunny. Is it any wonder that many drop out during training? It is a unique and talented person who can do this job and do it well. And, it is fitting and proper that we take a few minutes or hours this week to honor you for the job that each of you do. That recognition is overdue and it is insufficient. But, it is sincere. I have tried to do your job, and I have failed. It takes a special person with unique skills. I admire you and I thank you for the thankless job you do. You are heroes, and I am proud to work with you. I am the voice that calms the mother into breathing life back into her infant son. I am the invisible hand that holds and comforts the elderly man who woke up this morning to find his wife of 50 years has passed away during the night. I am the friend who talks the disgruntled teenager out of ending her own life. I sent help when you had your first automobile accident. I am the one who tries to obtain the information from callers to ensure that the scene is safe for those I dispatch to emergencies - all the while anticipating the worst and hoping for the best. I am the psychologist who readily adapts my language and tone of voice to serve the needs of my callers with compassion and understanding. I am the ears that listen to the needs of all those I serve. I have heard the screams of faceless people I never will meet nor forget. I have cried at the atrocities of mankind and rejoiced at the miracles of life. I was there, though unseen by my comrades in the field during the most trying emergencies. I have tried to visualize the scene to coincide with the voices I heard. I usually am not privy to the outcome of a call, and so I wonder... I am the one who works weekends, strange shifts and holidays. Children do not say they want my job when they grow up. Yet, I am at this vocation by choice. Those I help do not call back to say thank you. Still there is comfort in the challenge, integrity, and purpose of my employment. I am thankful to provide such a meaningful service. I am a mother, father, sister, brother, son or daughter. I am where you need me and still here when you don't. My office is never empty, and the work here is never done. I am always on call. The training is strenuous, demanding and endless. No two days at work are ever the same. Who am I? I am an Emergency 9-1-1 Dispatch
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