The United States (actually the world) is in chaos. Houston’s under water. The Columbia Gorge (Oregon and Washington side) are on fire. Florida is facing a hurricane the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the 1920s. Thousands and thousands of public safety personnel, officers, firefighters and medics, are deployed to assist with the chaos. The Thin Red and Blue Lines are out in force disregarding their own safety and leaving their own families to fend for themselves as they help out others in not only their own communities but communities around the country that need them. Do you know who else is out there? The Thin Gold Line. 9-1-1 Dispatchers sit ready to take the calls, handle the radio traffic and support the field responders in any way they can. They also have disregarded their own safety and left families at home to serve the community. My eyes welled up with tears of pride as I saw the picture of a Texas dispatcher wading through waist high water to get to work. All the stories of how public safety telecommunicators have continued to do their jobs even under threats to their own safety have been overwhelming.
9-1-1 Dispatch is not just a job. It’s a calling. Like other first responders, these men and women are dedicated to doing their work. It’s a dedication inherent in a brother/sisterhood. Most of them spend more time with their co-workers than they do with their families. They cry, laugh, tell dumb jokes, study, share their struggles, and try and keep each other awake when things are slow and sane when things are chaos. Even when we don’t get along, we have each other’s backs. The sense of camaraderie within a communications center is palpable. We celebrate together. We grieve together. We face challenges and dangers together.
Although we are still often not recognized for our essential public safety role, the circumstances of the last 3 months should erase any doubt. Did the secretaries continue working around the clock as the fires continued to elude containment? Did the filing clerk wade through water to make sure that the phones would be still be answered? Are there switchboard operators standing by with sleeping bags and emergency rations in the next room as Hurricane Irma comes crashing to shore? No. We are not administration. We are not clerical. We serve a fundamentally protective mission, and we are showing our colors across the country as Mother Nature unleashes her wrath on us. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for our classification to be consistent with what we actually are. But, I am hopeful that this will change and soon. As story after story of everyday life in the communications center becomes common knowledge all of the things that we do as first responders are exposed. I recently listened to a tape on Smalltowndicks.com that highlighted the type of work that we do. The episode titled, What Is Your Emergency details a murder. Dispatcher Dawn calmly handled a call where a man was confessing that he stabbed his girlfriend to death. There’s no change in the tone or cadence of her voice as she calmly asks questions ascertaining the medical status of his girlfriend and then directs him to go outside and meet the officers. Dawn, a 23 year dispatch veteran was invited onto the show and she talks candidly about the teamwork and camaraderie inherent to her work. The hosts tell her, “You’re so calm.” How often do we hear that? I know many times I would listen to a tape of an event that I handled figuring I would sound hysterical (after all I was all sorts of bound up inside) only to be met with my super calm and collected voice playing back at me. On the show, along with Dawn are the two investigating officers. Both confirm her words and the fact that certain dispatchers make them more comfortable and feel safer. They affirm the importance of 9-1-1 Dispatchers. Day in and day out public safety telecommunicators are doing hero work.
An amazing advocate and outreach source for 9-1-1 Dispatch is the Within the Trenches Podcast. The #IAM911 movement began here. It was on this page that I found another nonchalant story told by our hero dispatchers. Within the Trenches Podcast posted on Facebook the words of one of their admins and a Senior Telecommunicator and Communications Training Coordinator. Daphanie Bailes works at the Martin County (FL) Fire Rescue and she describes gearing up for the havoc that Hurricane Irma is supposed to unleash. She ends her funny tale with:
“I know the worst is still yet to come. I know there are people who are going to catch this storm worse than we will, but we are here. We are here to answer the calls, every day, through the storm and after. To be a light, a calming voice, an avenue to hope and help. To have the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon. We are expected to hold it all together when the world is falling apart. Again, that is what we do.”
Nothing more needs to be said.
Michelle Perin
Michelle Perin has been a freelance writer since 2000. In December 2010, she earned her Master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University.
