by Linda Olmstead
It's been awhile since I shared some experiences with y'all. Just a bit of a slump, I think.
Not a bad one, just an "everything's the same" kind of situation. Also, some of the really notable things that happened in my Comm Center weren't "ready for Prime Time," if you know what I mean. Sometimes even a bit of Major Bragging has to be kept under wraps until internal Powers That Be get to review the details, determine what Grand Response is appropriate, all that stuff. Meanwhile, the incidents get pushed into the past by continuing day-to-day activities and the news gets old. Oh, yah, that thing. That was months ago
Additionally, we dispatcher-types get so used to working behind the scenes that it's sometimes difficult to accept the accolades for truly remarkable efforts. We stand up at our consoles and high-five our partners, chortle with glee when the field folks catch a bad guy (with considerable assistance from someone wearing a headset instead of a gun), we enthuse to everybody that walks in the door about the cool incident somebody on our shift just handled really well. But if there's a chance someone might actually notify the media or write it up in an industry publication, we get all shy about it. Awwww, 'twarn't nuthin'-just doin' my job.
Then the media blasts us-or another dispatcher or any public safety responder in the world-with 24-point font in big, bold headlines and we're all indignant about the injustice. After all, hundreds of thousands of calls got handled just fine, but one incident (every now and then) goes sideways and we're incompetent, untrained, negligent or otherwise bad for the public??? [muttering]
We'd like to see them do our jobs. You got yourself into that mess; try getting yourself out of it without us. What if you dialed 9-1-1 and nobody answered, huh? I mean, ever. (Because sometimes it does happen, but not all that often, compared to the millions of such calls that are answered promptly and efficiently.)
No Dent
We also lament the fact that Public Education efforts don't seem to have made much of a dent in the number of truly stoopid 9-1-1 calls. Public Service Announcements, "music on hold" messages, bill-boards and pamphlets left in public places arewellboring to the masses. It's easy for that stuff to just slide on by without making an impression. (I find that the folks who are most interested in reviewing PSA material are US-not the targeted audience.
We are constantly looking for good material and we'll roll our eyes when we find something that we just don't think "hits the mark." But who else reads 'em, hears 'em or gives a hoot? Certainly not the myriad of commuters carrying cell phones, or the kids traveling from pay-phone to pay-phone, or the people who may suddenly, someday, need to call 9-1-1 for their own emergency.)
"Everybody" knows what 9-1-1 is for, right? [snorting with laughter] Just like everybody knows exactly what should happen when they dial 9-1-1: exact location is immediately pin-pointed, specific medical instruction is readily available for any circumstance, and the Answers To All Your Questions will be provided. [more muttering] Yah, right.
School kids are getting the word, though. Ask any grade-school or kindergarten student what 9-1-1 is for, and you'll hear appropriate replies: "The police come and catch bad guys." "The firemen come and put out the fire." "The ambulance comes and takes your mom to the hospital." Would that their adult family members have that same understanding!
"I've been stuck in traffic for 20 minutes now-what's the hold up?" "My neighbor is parking his car in front of MY driveway and the mail-man can't reach my mail-box-make him move." "Did we just have an earthquake?" "There's a stray dog in my yard." And hundreds of thousands of similar complaints which don't even slightly resemble emergencies. Grown-ups make those calls to 9-1-1.
Use Training
Unfortunately, the public doesn't take classes in "How To Report An Emergency." Sometimes even tenured dispatchers need to be reminded of that (as silly as it may sound). We know what differentiates a burglary from a robbery, but the public doesn't understand those distinctions. We know what sort of information we'll need to dispatch a call; the public is clueless in this regard. We just have to utilize our training, skills and knowledge to get them through their experiences, as safely as possible for them and the responders. We're the trained professionals, here. Let's prove that fact rather than badger a "poor" reporting party. That's not the time to educate someone on "how to use 9-1-1."
But it is tempting, isn't it? Awww, come on-I know y'all want to install the Magic Button that zaps the heck out of someone when they've made a 9-1-1 call for something ridiculous. Our dispatchers want to disable cell phones that make inadvertent calls to 9-1-1-particularly when we call back number on the Caller ID display and the person who answers argues with us.
It's just a mystery how your phone dialed 9-1-1 all by itself, sir or ma'am, but we still have to check it out. Wouldn't you prefer we cared enough to do that? Trust us, we've got lots better things to do than randomly dial numbers and accuse folks of hanging up on us.
Several months ago, the dispatchers at my Comm Center called back a cell phone multiple times after a caller deliberately hung up on us.
You see, the initial call was a suicide "announcement." Not the caller's plea to save her after a realization she wanted to live, but a confession of sorts before she died. Alone. Unidentified. Secreted in a cheap hotel and with her identification hidden so when somebody did discover her body, they wouldn't know who she was The three things that foiled her plan were these: Caller ID. (Now we had a phone number to start the process of finding her, as inadequate a bit of information that served to be.)
Very Cool
The illegal drugs she chose to "burst her heart" didn't create that effect, but the effects confused her enough to let us continue the process of interrogating her in fits and starts with each subsequent phone call back to her. (She could have simply turned her phone off.) And, finally, she didn't anticipate the amount of effort we'd expend to find her before she died. She'd also tied a noose around her neck to ensure she died by strangulation when she got too tired to hold her head up. Well, one dispatcher kept her focused on talking to us, again and again, and again.
There were five of us on duty in the Comm Center: two radio dispatchers, two call-takers, and me. We were all involved in saving that woman's life. To be extremely honest, the fact that it was indeed "our save"-just us dispatch-types-without other people suggesting courses of action or doing field work until we located her-was very cool. (Oh, sure, after we found out where she was, the police, fire and EMS responders did the "hands on" work and got her safely to a medical facility. But we found her in time.)
The hour spent between her call to 9-1-1 and the moment the cops broke into that motel room was a flurry of unparalleled teamwork. Although one dispatcher had taken the original call, another took up the task of calling her back over and over again and establishing an emotional bond to get more information in dribs and drabs of disconnected conversation.
The rest of us utilized our pooled geographic knowledge, DMV access, reverse directories and Thomas Guides, made other calls here and there, got a Language Line interpreter involved at one point (with another person who knew her), called several motels to compare what we were learning with their registration information, oh just tons of effort. And it all paid off-for her, and for us.
Two weeks ago, a different dispatcher at my Comm Center handled another lengthy wireless 9-1-1 call involving a suicidal caller. This, too, was successful.
Brick Wall
Of course, we're not the only dispatchers performing these remarkable tasks. Y'all are out there in your own Comm Centers handling other such incidents, equally as difficult and miraculous. Under incredibly adverse conditions like no ALI, or even no ANI at all. Others have encountered the brick walls built around cellular subscriber information, and surmounted them-or even attacked the problem at hand from another angle without assistance from the carriers. (As we did.)
Meanwhile, the radios still get answered, the phones still ring, other calls are dispatched and the rest of the public and our field personnel receive optimum attention. The world rolls on.
So, it's the same old thing. Nothing much new. Right? [grin]
We enjoyed a nearly full complement of staffing for several months, continuing-of course-to complain about the vacancy we couldn't fill. Then suddenly a few of our dispatchers made decisions to move away. Ack!
Two are transferring to different Comm Centers around the state (within our department, so the agency isn't "losing" them)-but we are going to be even "shorter" in staffing. Another one is relocating to another state, but she's joining another state agency as a trained dispatcher, so that'salmost okay, too. [wan smile]
Another one chose to leave dispatching because she found a job within state employment that didn't require shift work and was much closer to her home. Can't fault that decision, can we?
My partner Comm Sup is also transferring to another Comm Center-one that experienced the service retirement of one of their two Comm Sups-and the cost of living Over There is much less than it is around here. [heavy sigh] I gave her a congratulatory hug for her new opportunities and sneakily kicked her in the shins at the same time. Dang her for breaking up our supervisory team!
Fun Trainees
So, we've got or "original" vacancy we've had for several months, plus three more and a Comm Sup position open. When total staffing is 20 dispatchers, that's a chunk of schedule to cover with too few personnel. We've got two trainees right now-and you can bet it's in our best interests to see they make it through their training programs. (Make it good, too; not compromising their training just to fill holes in the schedule.) But several pairs of eyes are upon them.
Trainees are fun, though. A "typical" trainee syndrome is that they know a little bit and they don't know what they don't know, yet. Ya know? [grin] One of our two current trainees set herself up for a classic moment that caused uproarious laughter at her expense. (Well, also at the expense of somebody else that deserved it)
An officer called in to find out what radio identifier he should use for some overtime assignment. He identified himself and asked-obviously not knowing ahead of time that the trainee wouldn't understand his inquiry-what "Adam unit" he should use.
Without putting him on hold, she turned and innocently repeated his question to the room, giving his name as the inquirer. A tenured dispatcher said, casually, "Oh, he can be "Adam Henry." Cheerily, and without a moment's pause, the trainee told the officer his "new" radio identifier.
There was stunned silence on the phone for a second, and then he chuckled (not very convincingly) when he heard the laughter in the background. The dispatcher working "his" radio position picked up the phone and salvaged the operational situation while everyone else hastened to explain to the trainee why it had been so funny. (I'm sure we've all had those thoughts on occasion, with various officers, but this was so innocent and perfect for this officer. Oh, and it was a great training moment for the trainee, too. You betcha!)
Odd Calls
Similar things happen when trainees get their first truly odd calls. We hire entry-level people with no previous experience in public safety, but none of them have ever thought to call 9-1-1 for some of the stuff the public reports on those lines. (Well, not that they'd admit, I guess, after spending only a short time in the Comm Center.) But when they get one of these bizarre calls, their expressions are just so precious. [grin]
Those of us who've been around any amount of time at all are much harder to startle. We've heard an awful lot of strange things over the years. Now and then, something will raise an eyebrow or generate one of those looks at the phone handset (or console). You called 9-1-1 for THAT??
If you ever thought that yours is the only Comm Center to receive truly stoopid 9-1-1 calls, you might consider buying a little book by Leland Gregory II called "What's the Number for 9-1-1?" or even adding the "Wacky 9-1-1 Calls" CD to your collection. Neither one is expensive and they're filled with the stuff that takes our time and attention away from the people who really have a reason to dial 9-1-1. (And before I'm accused of trivializing our profession or succumbing to commercialization, anybody interested in following up on my recommendation will have to do an Internet search for the titles to actually make a purchase. I just happen to think both the book and the CD are great fun to have and share. The latter, at least, is audible proof that the clueless and deranged are in places outside your Comm Center's coverage area.)
Even when nothing very spectacular occurs for a long period of time (those "mellow" shifts to which we refer instead of using the Q word), there's still the opportunity to appreciate callers who think we provide services that are only on their list of "what 9-1-1 does." Hopefully, those requests generate a bit of a shared chuckle after the call has been terminated. Or the situation was innocuous instead of something splashed in Headline News to erode public confidence in our abilities.
One can only hope. Yah, well, one can also do the best job with what you've got-and then hope it still turns out well. Most of the time it does. Wouldn't it be nice if the public understood that, too?
Happy to be here, proud to serve.
Linda
February 2001