Dispatchers at communications center help save lives
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. » They spend eight hours each day in a state of calm, steady preparedness, ready for whatever the shift brings. The highly trained and specialized team of public safety communicators, otherwise known as 911 dispatchers, are the core of the emergency response system.
National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, April 9 through 15, was first established in 1981 and later declared by President Ronald Reagan as a week to honor and pay tribute to the dedicated men and women who answer our calls for help.
The Saratoga Country Sheriff’s Office in Ballston Spa is home to the county’s specialized division of dispatchers, who have the technology and the capabilities to respond to emergency calls throughout the entire county.
Steven G. Gordon, director of Emergency Communications with the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office and a former dispatcher, took time out to offer me a rare look behind the scenes to see firsthand how a public emergency team operates.
Working three shifts around the clock, teams are comprised of anywhere from five to a maximum of eight emergency communicators, plus one team supervisor per shift. The room they currently occupy can only accommodate nine, and Gordon said the department hopes to be move to a larger area that is part of a planned expansion.
In order to make the team, each person must already have a current CPR certification. They undergo a rigorous training routine that includes a combination of offsite, internal and on- the-job training. The course includes certification in Emergency Medical Dispatch, stress awareness training, and knowledge of the Americans with Disability Act and other legal information.
The EMD certification enables dispatchers to provide instructions to callers over the phone in CPR, Heimlich maneuver, dispensing epinephrine and other emergency measures. It takes six to nine months, from the time new recruits walk through the door until they are sitting at an emergency communications desk. And they are not allowed to work unsupervised and on their own until they meet the strict standards of the special division. Of the people who begin training, only one third complete the course or remain in the job.
“These people are really committed to their work,” said Gordon, who has 17 years as a public safety telecommunicator under his belt. He added that most of the people on the team also work part-time as paramedics, EMTs, or firemen, and Gordon noted that they wear two completely different hats in each role.
In addition to their commitment to the job, dispatchers all share a heightened ability to multi-task – a quality that cannot be taught or trained.
“When I’m interviewing candidates, I like to ask if they can read, listen to the radio and watch TV at the same time – and understand what they’re seeing, reading and hearing,” said Gordon.
After they are on the job for a while, the high level of multi-tasking becomes second nature, and Gordon refers to it as “muscle memory,” explaining that, once mastered, it’s an ability that returns easily.
Perhaps most important is the ability to work together as a team, some- thing I witnessed firsthand while I was in the Communications Room.
Each dispatcher sits at a desk, in front of four computer screens, each one of which supplies the dispatcher with vital information about the caller, ranging from whether the call is being made from a cell phone or a land line; the exact location of the caller; and a live map of any police cars that are near the caller’s location. A Google map pinpoints each live call, marked with virtual pushpins in red or green — red being a call that is still pending and green is a call that has already been assigned a police car or other type of emergency responder.
As I watched the activity in the room, I was struck by three things: it was very quiet and very calm; there were no raised voices and very little movement; and, even though each person was intent on the screens in front of them, they also heard every question I asked and responded in a calm, almost casual manner.
The other thing I noticed was the swift and competent interaction and task- sharing that rapidly occurred among the team members. Gordon explained that all calls are prioritized by the nature of each call and that they are constantly being re-prioritized until they are resolved.
Gordon gave an example of a person who calls in the morning to report that their car was broken into the night before. This type of call is not an “in progress” call; whereas a woman who calls to report she thinks her husband is having a stroke is a higher priority “in progress” call.
Gordon quickly pointed out that, regardless of the nature of the call, it is still answered with the same diligence and goal of getting a responder to the scene.
On the day of my tour, there was a team of seven on hand – six emergency communicators and a team supervisor: Jeffrey Reisner, who has 35 years under his belt; Ben Cuttita; Kurt Haas; Michael Rhodes; George Downs; Tom Temple; and Josh Otten, the team’s supervisor. Six of the seven people there also volunteered as EMTs, firemen, or paramedics when they weren’t working as dispatchers.
The team knows beforehand what specific area they will focus on and they work together to expedite calls and get the necessary type and amount of response to each call. One person will handle dispatching the fire department, another one will contact EMTs, and so on. Together, this team and the team members of the other two shifts handle over 200,000 calls per year. Of that number, approximately 60,000 are an actual call for service.
When I asked why there was such a large difference between the total number of calls and the actual calls responded to, Gordon used an example of drivers on the Northway all calling to report a piece of debris on the highway.
“Whenwe see the screens all light up with callers, we all know that it’s that type of call,” said Reisner. Gordon added that, while dozens of calls may be about the same piece of debris on the road, the team never knows if the next call will be a report of an accident because of that debris.
Reisner called their jobs a “delicate ballet” and “controlled chaos,” with the rest of the team nodding their heads in agreement and understanding.
“I could not do my job without these other guys,” added Downs, who also said that he does a lot of jogging to balance the stress and intensity of the job.
Intensity aside, each person on the team said they love their job.
“No two days are the same, and you never know what is going to happen when you go to work,” said Downs.
While the people who do this job have a special level of commitment to public service, the job is not without its difficulties, even for them.
For Cuttita, the hardest calls for him are the ones involving children. Another team member, Downs, was on duty when the team received a call from his own home. And Reisner said the hardest calls for him are the homicides.
The other challenge is the lack of closure.
Once the police or the EMT’s arrive to the call, the dispatcher’s job is done and, most times, they never learn the outcome of a call. Another challenge is the ability to compartmentalize, quite literally, from one moment to the next.
“You can go from a true emergency one minute to a less urgent or non-urgent call the very next,” said Reisner, adding it’s very important to disconnect from the anxiety.
One of the reasons an entire week is set aside to give attention to the vital role of the emergency public safety telecommunicators is to educate the public and raise awareness of the nature of the job.
“I’ll get a call from someone, saying that they made a 911 call and the dispatcher didn’t seem to care,” said Gordon.
“They cannot show emotion,” said Gordon.
He added that another common misconception occurs when a person calls 911. They sometimes think that the dispatcher should get off the phone and call for help, instead of remaining on the phone with the caller.
What the caller does not understand is that the team has all responded together, they have already made the necessary calls and responders are on the way.
“These are highly trained and highly skilled professionals. This is not the same as the customer service person from the cable company. It’s a common misconception that they are the same kind of jobs. This job is so much more than just answering a phone,” said Gordon.