By Helen Burkett Prencke
From the time we enter school certain acts are drilled into us—ingrained into our daily routines in such a way we commit them subconsciously. Always wash your hands after you go to the bathroom, Stop-Drop-and-Roll, if you have an emergency dial 9-1-1, the list goes on. Let’s talk about the last one: in an emergency dial 9-1-1. It seems simple really, so simple almost every one has dialed those three digits at some point in our life. The people on the other end of those calls live a life finely balanced between adrenaline rushes and afternoon naps. “If we have a busy day, somebody’s having a bad day!” This was how they summed up their job when I joined the dispatchers early last Tuesday morning. I was eager for calls to ring in. I wanted to hear them calmly talk strangers through chaos and the scream of sirens over the airwaves. That’s not what I got, but by the time I left their cramped office wallpapered with maps and memos I had a new appreciation for a job few can handle. My article cannot encompass everything they do in a single shift, but I will try to paint a picture of what they encounter daily.
Pictured above is 911 Dispatcher Judith McDaniel sits ready to answer the next call.
A Day in the Life of Appling County 911 Dispatchers
The shift started at 6:00 a.m., but I did not join them until 8:00 a.m. After introducing myself and explaining the purpose of my presence I got a brief tour of the office. It didn’t take long to explain the multiple computer monitors, the resource programs, how the radio worked or where the bathroom was. They went over basic codes so I could follow their conversations and the different meaning of each beep, ring and buzz. And then the fun began. The first call I jumped, pen in hand eager to scribble notes about the caller’s dilemma. The operator calmly verified the details of her call before telling her how to resolve the issue: a dead dog in the middle of the road. A second call soon came in on the other operator’s line: an elderly woman asking for assistance with her husband who’d fallen and couldn’t get up. This operator coolly asked if the man was injured. After dispatching someone to help her they began the tedious task of logging times and mileage. Each call requiring the dispatch of an officer, ambulance, or other personnel requires a full listing of times including the time dispatched, arrival upon the scene, departure from the scene, if necessary arrival at the hospital or secondary location. All of this must be logged down to the second while the dispatchers simultaneously continue a conversation with the caller, dispatch necessary departments, read maps to guide responders to the location and make judgment calls based on what the caller tells them. It takes a special kind of patience to multitask like this for twelve hours a day.
Many do not realize the dispatchers do even more than the calls and paper trail previously described. In addition to non-emergency work such as performing background checks for businesses and citizens in the community and assigning addresses for those building new homes in Appling County, the dispatchers serve as a communications hub for state and local establishments such as the Public Works, Georgia Power, State Patrol, city and county law enforcement officers and, when necessary, the GBI.
According to Dispatcher Gigi Cannon, “We are more than a 9-1-1 center. We’re a communications center.” These twelve men and women sacrifice their nights, holidays and weekends to ensure someone is always ready to answer your call with a calm “9-1-1 What’s your emergency?”
The afternoon provided a lull in calls allowing me to learn more about a job so few fully appreciate. I learned about the not so critical callers reporting UFO’s, loud music at the carwash and the busybodies calling to correct what they’d heard on the scanner. The ladies explained protocol for handling an “Abandoned Call” commonly known as a hang up. If there’s one thing they want the community to know it’s this: Don’t hang up if you accidentally dial 9-1-1. Stay on the line and let them know it was a misdial. Any phone has the capability to dial 9-1-1 no matter how old, whether it has minutes available or not, so often children playing on their parent’s phones (or old discarded “toy” phones) call them and when a parent realizes he or she simply hangs up. Take the extra three minutes to let them know this was an accident instead of an emergency. If you don’t they will call you back to follow up. Another interesting fact, 9-1-1 has a non-emergency line. Anyone can call 912-367-8111 to report problems such as downed railroad crossing bars, road kill, phone scams, or to simply to request information. They are happy to take these calls as well; when this line rings a mellow tone is heard instead of the knee-jerking blare of the emergency line throwing everyone into immediate action. Before we could discuss much else the lines began to ring again. A bank needed the assistance of an officer while they refilled the ATM, BOLO’s came in from nearby counties, a home security system went off and the company contacted 9-1-1 to resolve the matter. All of this and more smoothly came and went as the dispatchers directed officers over the scanner.
Just before I left one last call came in for the shift. The kind of call I had been waiting for all day. After hearing the dispatcher’s side of the conversation I was strangely sad. This is what I had wanted to hear all day, and yet, the idea of someone actually dying made me regret any desire for excitement. What they told me earlier in the morning was true—a busy day for them meant a bad day for somebody else. They actually hope and pray for days with few callers. The next time you dial 9-1-1, no matter how scared or hysterical you may be, there will always be someone on the other end of the line ready and waiting to patiently assist you. These people have the patience of Job and more knowledge than an encyclopedia. They sit in a cramped room for twelve hours at a time, day and night, so we all can feel safe and secure should we ever have to dial 9-1-1.
Many do not realize the dispatchers do even more than the calls and paper trail previously described. In addition to non-emergency work such as performing background checks for businesses and citizens in the community and assigning addresses for those building new homes in Appling County, the dispatchers serve as a communications hub for state and local establishments such as the Public Works, Georgia Power, State Patrol, city and county law enforcement officers and, when necessary, the GBI.
According to Dispatcher Gigi Cannon, “We are more than a 9-1-1 center. We’re a communications center.” These twelve men and women sacrifice their nights, holidays and weekends to ensure someone is always ready to answer your call with a calm “9-1-1 What’s your emergency?”
The afternoon provided a lull in calls allowing me to learn more about a job so few fully appreciate. I learned about the not so critical callers reporting UFO’s, loud music at the carwash and the busybodies calling to correct what they’d heard on the scanner. The ladies explained protocol for handling an “Abandoned Call” commonly known as a hang up. If there’s one thing they want the community to know it’s this: Don’t hang up if you accidentally dial 9-1-1. Stay on the line and let them know it was a misdial. Any phone has the capability to dial 9-1-1 no matter how old, whether it has minutes available or not, so often children playing on their parent’s phones (or old discarded “toy” phones) call them and when a parent realizes he or she simply hangs up. Take the extra three minutes to let them know this was an accident instead of an emergency. If you don’t they will call you back to follow up. Another interesting fact, 9-1-1 has a non-emergency line. Anyone can call 912-367-8111 to report problems such as downed railroad crossing bars, road kill, phone scams, or to simply to request information. They are happy to take these calls as well; when this line rings a mellow tone is heard instead of the knee-jerking blare of the emergency line throwing everyone into immediate action. Before we could discuss much else the lines began to ring again. A bank needed the assistance of an officer while they refilled the ATM, BOLO’s came in from nearby counties, a home security system went off and the company contacted 9-1-1 to resolve the matter. All of this and more smoothly came and went as the dispatchers directed officers over the scanner.
Just before I left one last call came in for the shift. The kind of call I had been waiting for all day. After hearing the dispatcher’s side of the conversation I was strangely sad. This is what I had wanted to hear all day, and yet, the idea of someone actually dying made me regret any desire for excitement. What they told me earlier in the morning was true—a busy day for them meant a bad day for somebody else. They actually hope and pray for days with few callers. The next time you dial 9-1-1, no matter how scared or hysterical you may be, there will always be someone on the other end of the line ready and waiting to patiently assist you. These people have the patience of Job and more knowledge than an encyclopedia. They sit in a cramped room for twelve hours at a time, day and night, so we all can feel safe and secure should we ever have to dial 9-1-1.
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