A day in the life of a 911 dispatcher

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MACHIAS – They’ve handled thousands of emergency calls, but that’s what they’ve been trained to do.

They are Washington County’s dispatchers who answer the 911 line at the Regional Communication Center and send out the appropriate emergency service units.

Sunday marks the start of National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week, during which the work of dispatchers is recognized.

Buried in the basement at the courthouse, the communication center in Washington County has dark wall-paneling and fluorescent lights. There is a feeling of stepping into a dungeon instead of a high-tech communication center. Two operation consoles sit side-by-side; a third is in another part of the room. The operation consoles are a technological wonder with computer screens that pinpoint the exact location of a telephone call.

Cindy Rossi and Richard Moore are two of the 15 trained dispatchers the county employs. They work 12-hour shifts, two days on, two days off.

Rossi has been working as a dispatcher since 2004, Moore since 1999. “This is the best job in the world,” Rossi said Wednesday.

The two are not only partners in work, but partners in life. They were married last year and are the only couple that works at the county’s emergency center.

Some days are slow; dispatchers do get a lot of 411 calls from people looking for information.

“If we’re not busy, we will afford them the courtesy of providing them with the information with the reminder that in the future that 911 is for emergencies,” Moore explained.

Other days, the two are busy answering emergency calls and dispatching police, fire and ambulance workers. Wednesday was such a day.

There is a rhythm to what they do.

The 911 telephone rings and Rossi answers.

“911, what is the address of your emergency?” Rossi asks. The computer screen has pinpointed the location; Rossi is confirming it. The screen shows the caller is using a cell phone.

Then it’s a series of questions. “What is your name ma’am, in case we get cut off?” Rossi asks. “What is the telephone number where you are calling from?” Rossi jots it all down. “What is the problem? Tell me exactly what happened.”

“It’s a small blueberry burn, out of control, no one around, no houses,” Rossi says.

Moore monitors the call. He hits the tones to alert firefighters. “For the … we have a report of an unattended debris burn near the … ,” Moore tells firefighters. For confidentiality purposes, the press was asked not to identify the town or the fire department.

Within seconds fire department personnel are on their way.

Rossi calls the woman back. “Is that fire moving?” she asked. “You can see the flames? Well we’ve toned out the fire department and they will be there shortly.” She continues to gather more information. How big is the fire? How far has it spread? “It’s getting bigger,” Rossi tells Moore.

Moore relays the updated information to firefighters. At the same time, information is logged onto the Computer Aided Dispatch sheet. “This is where we keep track of all of our officers and units that are working,” Moore explains. And within minutes, firefighters are at the scene.

The two-way speaker crackles. “It is just a little grass fire, but the wind is picking up now,” the firefighter tells the dispatcher.

“Ten-four,” Moore responds.

Another town radios Moore to ask if more help is needed. Moore tells the firefighter to start the town’s brush truck. Silence. The dispatchers wait. Has the fire spread? Are more firefighters needed? Within minutes, the call comes back; the fire has been extinguished.

The dispatchers type in the final bits of information on the CAD sheet.

“Cell phones are a major difference,” Rossi explained. “A lot of people don’t realize your cell phones actually have a GPS locator inside of them. When they get their telephones, they should go in there and turn that on, because it is 911 compliance,” she said.

The 911 line rings again, a low urgent ring. The protocol starts again. And this time the caller is reporting an automobile accident in another part of the county.

Rossi’s questions are pointed. Is anyone hurt? Is there any bleeding? How many people are involved? Is there any serious injury? “It is really important, don’t move them,” she tells the caller. “Don’t let them move unless you think they are in danger.”

Moore dispatches a trooper and ambulances.

The dispatchers have been trained as Emergency Medical Dispatchers and have protocol cards for handling everything from a heart attack to delivering a baby.

Last year, Rossi was on duty when a man was injured at a logging site and she talked co-workers at the scene through CPR. In that instance, the victim didn’t survive.

But just a few months ago, Rossi’s training saved the life of a 3-year-old who had stopped breathing. “Dispatcher Rossi was successful through EMD in coaching the mother into rescue breathing, which literally kept that child alive until the ambulance service got there,” Moore said.

Last year, Rossi was named dispatcher of the year for the work she did in stabilizing a shooting victim until help arrived. “The big issue was controlling the bleeding,” Moore said.

Often the dispatchers never learn how an emergency is resolved. “You end your shift and go home and that pretty much is it. You think about it from time to time … but you … may never know [how the emergency ended],” Moore said.

“There are some calls you go home and think how heart-wrenching,” Rossi said. “I am glad I have a normal life; it’s sad some of the calls we deal with.”

Not all calls are emergencies; some calls bring a chuckle.

There was a 911 call awhile ago from a 3-year-old boy – his cat was stuck in a tree. His mother was in the tree trying to rescue the cat. Rossi asked to speak to the mother. When the mother learned her son had called 911, she was not a happy cat catcher.

“You could hear her running across the lawn yelling ‘you didn’t dial 911; that’s for police, ambulance and fire. Don’t tell me you dialed 911,’ the mother said. ‘OK, Mom I didn’t,'” the 3-year-old responded. The fire department was dispatched and the cat was rescued, Rossi said with a laugh.

Rossi also tells the story of the woman who called on Thanksgiving Day more than a year ago to tell them her rooster was cooking. “We thought ‘well you should be cooking your rooster, it’s Thanksgiving Day,'” Rossi said.

The woman than told Rossi the rooster was not eating or drinking and getting dehydrated. After more questioning, Rossi learned the rooster had fallen out of its cage and was behind the woman’s dryer. Dispatchers sent the fire department, and the rooster was rescued.

At the end of the 12-hour shift, it is time to turn the console over to new dispatchers. Asked what they did to unwind, Rossi joked, “We go home and watch CSI.” Actually, Moore watches television, Rossi runs and reads.

bdncalais@verizon.net

454-8228