Celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
Part five: The wizards behind the curtains

 

[April 16, 2021] 

This week has been National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and a perfect time to look more closely at the 911 Dispatch in Logan County. Throughout the past few days there has been a lot of discussion about the mechanics of the local Emergency Operation Center and how it works for all of us. However, no amount of software, no number of radios, telephones, hard drives, or monitors would ever be effective without the telecommunicators who man them. They are the wizards behind the curtains, and without them 911 would be useless.

When a frantic parent with a sick or injured child calls 911, it should be a comfort to know that there is no phone tree, no pre-recorded message telling them to press one or press two. The call is answered by a real person and that person is trained and prepared to assist the caller and provide support while waiting for help to arrive.

Logan County 911 Director Cheryl Hedrick and Operations Manager Becky Langley noted that the 911 telecommunicator or dispatcher is the first “first responder” people come in contact with during an emergency, and they have to be proficient in multiple emergency responses. “We’re expected to be professionals in three different disciplines. A firefighter gets to be a firefighter, a medic gets to be a medic, law enforcement gets to be law enforcement, but we have to do all three,” said Langley.

The dispatchers have to be patient with the callers and callers in turn need to be patient with the dispatchers. Sometimes that is easier said than done. There are so many questions that have to be answered and callers sometimes become very frustrated with those questions. It needs to be understood that the caller is the eyes of the dispatcher and the questions asked help the dispatcher visualize what is going on and gives him or her the ability to lead the caller through the scenario and get emergency personnel in route with as much information as possible delivered before they arrive on scene.

While dispatchers are expected to deliver compassionate and efficient services to the caller, the calls are sometimes very difficult. The dispatchers are human, and they are impacted by what they hear, what they visualize and how the scenario ends. They experience the emotions of the caller, and feel those pains with the caller. Loss of life is hard to accept and it is hard to walk away from when the call is over.

Another lasting impact for the dispatcher is the fact that many times, they do not get to know the end of the story. While they have done everything they can to help during the call, when emergency personnel arrive on scene, the call ends and they don’t necessarily know what happens after that. They can hope they did enough, they can hope that the story has a happy ending, but sometimes they don’t get that closure.

So how do the dispatchers handle the emotions that flow when certain calls come in? Langley says that there are counseling services available for dispatchers if needed, but most of the time they rely on each other and lean in together to hold each other up after an emotional call. “No one can better understand what we are going through than us,” Langley said.

The group becomes its own little family, and the family members outside the dispatch office become intertwined as well, creating a large “extended family network.”

Langley said that when a call comes into the dispatch that involves one of those extended family members, it is traumatic for everyone. She recalled that last year, a dispatcher on duty took a call that involved a member of her family. Langley said she was very pleased with how that had gone. Even though the dispatcher was dealing with a member of her own family, the need to get the appropriate people on the road to administer help was still foremost in the dispatcher’s mind. The call was processed, and when help was on the way, the dispatcher was sent home.

And, then there are the calls that come in that are just funny and at the same time a little disruptive. Langley said, like emergency rooms in hospitals, a full moon brings in the strange calls and more calls than at other times. Dispatchers handle those and move on, but sometimes those calls too can leave a lasting impression.

Hedrick noted there are also a number of calls that involve children dialing 911. She offered up a good piece of advice to parents. A cell phone that has been taken out of service can still dial 911. This is good to know for those who may have had service turned off by their provider. Even though the phone may not be used for typical calls, it can still be used to dial emergency services via 911.

However, one thing that does happen, is parents will give an old cell phone to a child to play with. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but Hedrick reminds parents to remove the battery from the phone before doing so, so that it is truly disabled.

Hedrick said kids play with the phones, they push the buttons and pretend to talk to friends. It is fun. But, on occasion, a child will dial 911 and surprise, surprise, someone actually answers the phone! Kids find this fascinating, and it becomes a game, they call and call again, knowing now that they will get to talk to a real person.

But, here’s the rub. Children should be taught to call 911 in an emergency. They should learn that they can get help on their own if a caregiver is ill or unresponsive. There are many documented cases when a small child dialed 911 knowingly and a life was saved. Therefore, each of those calls must be taken seriously by dispatchers until they are able to determine that the caller is simply a child playing.

So, while use of 911 at appropriate times is encouraged, parents should remove batteries from a phone given to children as a toy.

And, looking back at the Thursday story and the helpful hint by Sarah Combs, remember, not all calls are emergencies, and could be placed using a different number. Dispatch telecommunicators may not know what time the parade starts or if the bowling alley is open late on Saturday night. They probably don’t know what is on the city council agenda or when your sewer bill is due. There are other numbers that can be called for those questions.

There are also other numbers that can be called to reach law enforcement in non-emergency situations. You may reach the Lincoln Police Department by calling 217-732-2151. The number to call in non-emergency situations for the Logan County Sheriff’s Office is 217-732-4159.

The dispatch telecommunicators are the “unsung heroes” of the system. They are all okay with that. They realize that people relate to the people they see and the people who physically help them. The 911 operator is heard, but not seen, and after the crisis has passed is more or less forgotten.

Hedrick noted that for the dispatchers, the bad balances out with the good. When a dispatcher plays a part in bringing a new life into the world and mother and child are doing well and in the care of medical professionals, there is a sense of “This is why we do what we do.” When someone is frightened about the health of a loved one and a dispatcher is able to give that person a plan of action that ultimately helps both the patient and the caller, again that is why they do what they do.

The good calls bring balance to the tough calls common to 911 when no matter what is done and how well it is done, a life cannot be saved. The dispatchers try not to take that home with them, but how can they not. Langley says in is hard. Some of the events they are involved in leave a lasting impression and they do take it home with them because it has become a part of who they are.

That is why that establishing a week in honor of the invisible first responder is so important to people like Hedrick and Langley. They know what they hear every day from callers, they know that they have helped someone survive something traumatic and because of the role they played, a father will see his children tomorrow, and mother will hold her newborn and smile, and a family will stay intact because the life-saving effort began with the dispatcher who answered that 911 call.

[Nila Smith]

This is the final article from the time spent in the Logan County Dispatch Office. On Saturday, LDN will publish an article provided by Langley and written by Andre’ Lanier on the history of the 911 system. Today, there will be a helpful hint written by Cathy Hopp and on Saturday the final helpful hint will come from Shannon Harris.


Cathy Hopp

It is always best when witnessing an incident that needs reported to report it as soon as possible. For example: Reckless driving, suspicious person, fireworks/gun shots etc. When doing so make sure you provide as much information as possible, such as vehicle make, model, color, license plate, clothing descriptions, number of individuals involved, direction of travel, location, or address of incident. This helps assure that we can get an officer where they are needed as quickly and safely as possible, as well as helping them find the responsible party for the incident as soon as possible to resolve the incident.