Maybe you’ve just witnessed a car accident. Maybe your loved one is unresponsive, or maybe you’ve called simply to report baby ducks trapped in a storm drain. Whatever the circumstance may be, the voice coming through the phone can quite literally be a lifeline to someone experiencing a crisis. But who exactly are these voices? Who are the people tasked with providing emergency response?
The majority of emergency calls in Marin are directed toward the Marin County Public Safety Communications Center. Located in San Rafael, the center provides all emergency dispatch services in Marin. Dispatchers gather essential information from callers and send the appropriate first-responders to the scene. The call-takers provide services for five police departments, nine fire departments and six paramedic service areas. According to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, the communications center employs 37 dispatchers.
Similar to Burke, fellow dispatcher Jackie Roper initially had a different career path in mind, but ultimately found fulfillment at the call center.
“I didn't feel like I was contributing to society [in the travel industry]. I wasn’t getting much out of it. I’m really happy here,” Roper said.
Like Burke and Roper, Sara VanGuilder, a dispatcher of six years, wasn’t set on a career path as a call dispatcher. She was first exposed to the field by a close friend’s mother who worked as a 911 operator. She is trained in medical dispatching, so she specializes in answering incoming calls regarding medical emergencies, provides necessary instructions and directs emergency medical services with the given information. According to VanGuilder, as a call dispatcher she encounters stressful situations. Certain calls can be triggering to dispatchers, notably ones they can personally relate to.
“You get a call and it's a mom who is 45 years-old and has three kids. You're like, ‘wait a minute, that sounds just like my family.’ Even if you know it's not your family, it hits home,” VanGuilder said.
For Burke, her personal connections in the area often make the calls more difficult.
“I grew up here. When I see those familiar names and addresses, my heart stops. ” Burke said.
Even with the periodically stressful nature of the job, Ryan Talbot, a Marin law radio dispatcher, finds the work to be gratifying. But just like VanGuilder, he too wasn’t initially drawn to the career.
“There's not a lot of people in high school that say ‘I want to be a 911 dispatcher.’ It's not one of those fields,” Talbot said. “It's definitely a rewarding feeling when you're actually helping others. It's not an easy job. It's challenging and fast-paced. It's exciting.”
These dispatchers, which provide 911 services 24 hours a day, receive a wide range of call traffic depending on the time of day. According to Talbot, during the graveyard shift, which lasts approximately from midnight to early morning, hours can pass with only a few calls coming into the center. On the other extreme, Burke says, the phone lines light up like a Christmas tree during fires and larger scale incidents, where 600 to 700 calls can reach the center in a day.
Dispatchers are trained to provide assistance in all scenarios, ranging from fires to guiding women in labor unable to make it to a hospital. As a result, training is extensive in preparation for any scenario that may come through the phones. The job requires weeks of initial training followed by on-the-job experience with techniques and procedures of radio and telephone dispatching. During medical emergencies, for example, the dispatchers provide pre-arrival instructions and have a series of protocol cards to get as much information as possible before paramedics arrive.
Dispatchers sometimes face situations that aren’t written into protocol. In these scenarios, VanGuilder believes that utilizing the knowledge of her fellow dispatchers is the best way to handle it.
“I think our best resource is each other. There's no book that's going to teach you everything,” VanGuilder said. “Everybody in the room knows something different than you do. It doesn't matter if they've been here for a year or 20 years.”
The center deals with a wide range of emergency situations on a daily basis, but they frequently receive non-emergency complaints. According to VanGuilder, many citizens are unclear that the 911 line is reserved for emergencies.
“A lot of times people won't know what's proper to call 911 for. If we're taking a parking complaint and someone's having a heart attack, and we can't get to it, that’s a problem,” VanGuilder said.
It’s a general rule that one should dial 911 in case of an emergency, which is defined in this instance as a situation in which there is a threat to life or property. According to VanGuilder, other concerns, including noise and parking complaints should be directed to non-emergency lines, as to not obstruct a serious pending emergency.
Call operators often manage high-stress situations, and their effects on the dispatchers can linger long after the phone hangs up.
In a study conducted by the American Psychiatric Association, 44.5 percent of the 6,000 emergency dispatchers that participated screened positive for clinically significant symptom clusters consistent with one or more mental disorders.
According to Talbot, there has been a recent push towards improved mental health resources within fields dealing with emergency situations.
“They're trying to change the culture in law enforcement as well as fire and emergency responders to where we actually talk about incidents that affect us,” Talbot said. “If you have a response to something that's dramatic or bad, it doesn't mean that you're weak. It just means that you're a human being and you can be affected by things.”
According to Burke, the nature of the job forms a tight knit community within the call center.
“We're in this room for six to 12 hours at a time together. You become friends with people in here and you know who to talk to. If somebody takes a really stressful call the supervisors are really great about checking in with them. Even your peers are good about taking care of each other,” Burke said.
Resources like Peer Support with the Sheriff's office are available to dispatchers in Marin. If a case is particularly difficult to cope with, dispatchers can receive free therapy or counseling.
With an estimated 240 million calls made to 911 every year, dispatching is imperative in keeping Americans safe.
“There are those times where you're the lifeline for this person on the other end of the phone. We’re not able to help in every single situation, we do the best we can. Life happens. But overall, I think it's rewarding to be able to help other people,” Talbot said.
Credits:
Created with images by Andrei Slobtsov - "Invisible Design Fire extinguisher" • Cullan Smith - "Fire on the Horizon"