Effective regional dispatch

Over the past few months there has been understandable controversy over the remaining towns and cities in Penobscot County going to a Regional Dispatch Center for their fire, police and EMS calls. The debates are reasonable considering the huge sums of taxpayer money involved, however, some of the attacks on the skill and performance of emergency communications operators are excessive and irrational.

One of the main complaints heard is that a regional dispatch center does not know the area and therefore cannot help the caller. Has anyone brought up a water rescue, in a cove off Bar Harbor? An incoherent caller that another agency could not get any information out of? She had slipped off rocks into the ocean. The woman was located and rescued, after the call was transferred to Penobscot Regional Communications Center. Check your map, that’s not Penobscot’s area.

Or how about the ambulance call in St. Louis that came into Penobscot? That’s a bit out of the jurisdiction, yet the dispatcher on duty handled the call, got help there, provided emergency medical protocols until the ambulance arrived, and followed up.

No one has mentioned the 9-1-1 call of a child not breathing, with no pulse, that was not in Penobscot’s jurisdiction, however, knowing the Old Town dispatcher was working alone, the Penobscot dispatcher offered to stay on the line and guide the parents through CPR. That child was brought back.

The majority of Penobscot’s dispatchers have field experience in Fire, Police, or EMS. Many are active duty firefighters, ambulance crew or law enforcement officers. All hold the same fundamental training and certifications as the other agencies, with an extensive training process for new hires. Many participate in ongoing training on their own time. There is continuing specialized training in suicide intervention, hostage negotiation, and crisis call taking among others.

We are not saying regional dispatch is the answer for every town. Certainly there are advantages and disadvantages to both scenarios. What we are saying is PRCC is an organization of professionals. We get called every name in the book, we have to deal with people in the most desperate moments of their lives. We are cursed at and yelled at. We have to remain calm and compassionate in the midst of chaos. Daily we go to work knowing that one mistake, one wrong move on our part could cost someone their lives. Still, we show up. The pay is unreasonably low. We rarely know the outcome of the calls we take.

Officers blame us, callers blame us. The last thing we need is for politicians and the general public who have never dealt with us to blame us unjustifiably.

A good dispatcher is a transparent dispatcher. No one knows our names, even though we helped them perform CPR on a loved one. No one sees our face, even though we stayed on the phone with them in a time of terror until help arrived. No one is our voice when we are accused of incompetence by politicians and the press. We may not be the answer for your city or town, but please let’s stop turning that into attacks both personal and professional.

This commentary was signed by the following dispatchers: Jaeme Ahern, Donald Russell, Chris Taylor, Charlie Erickson, Linda Stanhope, Betty Butler, J Lowden, Tracey Clapper, Erik L. Dow, Adam Curran, Mike Azevedo, Marge E. King,

Tracy Hall, Liz Tilley and Wendy Coburn.