Dispatchers hear it all when taking 911 calls

TAMPA, FL — They could help save your life, and chances are you would never even see their face.

It’s the people who answer 911 calls. Dispatchers rarely talk about what it’s like to be the voice on the other end of a distress call, but they all have a story.

More than 40,000 distress calls ring inside the Hillsborough County 911 Call Center every month. A staff of 10 operators on duty at any time takes call after call.

“We like to refer to them as the first of the first responders. We are the first ones to receive the call,” said Director of Operations Brad Herron.

They gather the information to arm officers on scene.

“Any call at any time can be anything. It can happen when you least expect it,” said dispatcher Rondal Hodges.

When you call for help, these men and women are the voice on the other end of the line.

“You totally blank everything out around you and focus on that caller,” said dispatcher Justine Stickley.

“It’s a very challenging job. You have to come in and be prepared for almost anything to happen,” Hodges said.

From lost cars to noise complaints to the most horrific of crimes, they’ve heard it all.

Real-life tragedy unfolds as 911 dispatchers listen in.

Stickley answered one of the worst. She heard a crying baby, a frantic mother and the man who pulled the trigger. First, he shot the child, and then he shot himself.

When lives fall apart, 911 dispatchers blindly listen in.

“There was nothing they could do for the child,” she said. “He was gone. That really affected me really bad.”

That call haunted her at work and at home. She just couldn’t ever forget what she heard.

There’s a professional toll to being the anonymous voice on the other end. Nationally, burnout rates lead to higher turnover in call centers, from 17 percent in 2005 to 20 percent in 2009, according to industry studies.

Many times dispatchers don’t know if what they do even makes a difference.

“We only hear it. We don’t see it. We don’t know the follow up of it,” Hodges said.

But coping under pressure is a job requirement. Now, Stickley uses her experience to help other dispatchers deal with the emotional burdens of the job.

“It’s very rewarding to be on the other side,” she said.

“You sort of kick in to the idea that I’m not going to lose my cool,” Hodges said, “I’m going to make myself be calm, so that I can try to get him the best help the best way that I can.”

He did that once, and it helped save the life of a deputy

“All the sudden he was screaming on the radio I’ve been shot I’ve been shot,” Hodges recalled.

He dispatched backup and an ambulance, staying calm on the phone, but after the fact he said he was shaking.

No matter how bad the crime and no matter what these dispatchers hear, the calls keep coming.

“There’s only a couple of seconds between calls,” Herron said.

These dispatchers keep answering. They are the voice on the other end when you call for help.

“We have to be ready for the next dispatch. We have to be ready to go again,” Hodges said.

It’s a special type of person who takes on the job of a 911 dispatcher.

Managers tell us they don’t do a lot of recruiting because the right type of person tends to seek out the job.

The No. 1 reason most said they do it?

They simply want to help.

Read the story here.

Related Stories

• No Related Post