Dispatchers vital to the work of law enforcement
Www.wapakdailynews.com • Wapakoneta Daily News • Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Dispatchers are being celebrated across the country this week during National Telecommunications Week.
“I call them the heartbeat of the team,” Auglaize County Sheriff Mike Vorhees said. “They are the ones that are taking the initial call, they are the ones that are giving us everything out.”
Vorhees said if dispatchers don’t get that initial contact right it throws everything off.
“Every 911 call in the county comes in to us,” Vorhees said. “Every dispatcher takes every call personally. When somebody calls in they are usually upset about something. One minute they are taking a call because somebody is upset about the neighborhood dog, the next minute they are taking a call where there is a CPR in progress because somebody is not breathing, or there is a terrible accident where somebody is injured or is dying, or maybe they take a call where their spouse just beat them up and it’s a domestic situation.”
Vorhees said the 12 county dispatchers do a tremendous job. The Wapakoneta chief of police agrees.
“They are often the first person who a victim talks to and that is a big responsibility,” Chief Calvin Schneider said. “The good dispatchers know what questions to ask before the police ever get involved.”
Some information can be crucial for dealing with an incident; that information gathering often improves the longer a dispatch is on the job.
Major incidents put dispatchers to the test with police, fire and EMS responding to a scene during the course of a day.
“You still have got phone calls and people at the window,” Schneider said. “It can be very hectic and complex,” he said, and often goes unrecognized. “They never really show dispatchers on TV shows,” Schneider said.
Dispatchers undergo several months of training and continually update that training. Dispatchers are trained to offer medical advice, such as how to treat a wound or give CPR.
“Everything is different each day,” sheriff’s dispatcher Cierra Anderson said.
She has been at the job for five years. Anderson said as a dispatcher the goal is to improve the situation with every call.
“You learn from every call.
Not every call is the same by any means, each call is different,” Anderson said, acknowledging the stress factor and said it was important to not take that stress home,
Fellow county dispatcher Michelle Hunlock has been at the department for 30 years, and offered her advice
“You definitely want to do stuff when you’re not at work to relieve your mind of everything you’ve been dealing with throughout the week,” Hunlock said.
The number of incidents a dispatcher might be juggling ranges greatly.
It can be “as many as you can imagine,” Anderson said.
“You could be doing one thing and it could jump to 20,” Hunlock added.
They often have the opportunity to improve a situation.
“When you get a young kid calling in when their parent is sick or something like that,” Hunlock said. “You are helping them stay calm and working through that until you get help there.”
Hunlock also talked about the misperceptions that surround the dispatcher’s job.
“They think we just sit there and answer the phones; there is just so much more that goes into it,” she said, pointing to the medical advice they issue and paperwork for warrants and protection orders that the dispatchers file.
County Dispatcher Cierra Anderson said with the increase in technology on devices that can call 911, don’t be alarmed by an accidental call to dispatch.
“We are there to help you, that is a safety device to help you,” Anderson said.
Hunlock recommended staying on the line to confirm it was an accidental call.
“It’s not a crime,” Hunlock said adding they have to call 911 hang ups back and make sure they are okay as part of the job.
Wapakoneta Records Clerk and Dispatcher Nikki Sawmiller acknowledged the multi-purpose function of the dispatch and said, “We are a book of knowledge.”
She said they get several unique questions from the public.
“There’s a lot of expectations to know road conditions,” Sawmiller said. “The amount of knowledge you need to retain is very surprising.”
Sawmiller said she got involved with dispatching 25 years ago because it was a way to give back and have a noble career.
Sawmiller said multitasking and being able to work through the stress is important for new dispatchers.
“Someone who does this job has to be able to turn off that emotion or that adrenaline to follow through,” Sawmiller said.
Sawmiller said having a good source of support from friends is important for dealing with stress. She said after dealing with the heartaches at work, it makes her not sweat the small stuff at home. It also brings her to discuss certain topics with younger members of her family.
“I didn’t realize how much I would love it,” Dispatcher Jessica Rush said. She has spent three years at the Wapakoneta Police department. “It’s a whole heightened world a lot of people don’t get to see. It’s not a 9 to 5 job. I see them more than I see my own family.” Rush said. “We see everything, the good and the bad and that tightens your bond with a lot of people.”