9-1-1

April 12th-18th is National Telecommunicator's Week, and as a 9-1-1 dispatcher, I feel the need to toot my own horn.  No one else is going to do it, so it's up to me:)   It is not easy being a dispatcher.  It is a stressful, often under appreciated job.  I've had bad car accidents, house fires, dead babies, car chases.  I've also had plenty of days where I sit for eight solid hours and do absolutely nothing.   And I mean nothing.  We are a one-seater dispatcher center, only one dispatcher on at a time.  As such, I don't get any sort of a break.  I don't get a lunch hour, or fifteen minute breaks throughout the day.  Some days I don't get to eat and there are lots and lots of occasions I have to pee so bad I think I'm going to 'splode but I can't get to the bathroom.  But, as I said earlier, there are days where I watch eight hours of TV or Netflix or watch the crap out of cat videos on YouTube.  It all evens out.  I never know from one day to the next (or even one minute to the next) what kind of calls will come in.  I'll be happily watching my cat videos and then the proverbial shit hits the fan, and it can happen in a matter of seconds. 

All in all, I like my job.  It's not for everone.  I do have good days.  Days where it feels as if I helped someone, or made a difference, no matter how small.  I love days when I've helped someone, gotten them what they need and didn't screw it up.  That's a good day.  I think my biggest pet peeve is being forgotten.  I took a call once, a lady having a heart attack.  I sent everyone, police, ambulance, first responders.  Luckily, the lady survived (it was a legit heart attack.  AED was used on scene).  The family of the lady put a letter in our local newspaper thanking everyone for their efforts in saving her.  Everyone but me.  The dispatchers are never mentioned.  I've seen a lot of those letters and hardly anyone thinks of the dispatcher.   EMS, police, none of them would have been there if not for me.  We're used to being unsung heroes.  Thankful families will bring in cookies.  They'll mention each and every agency and person by name.....but the dispatcher:(  We understand why.  The public never sees the dispatcher.  They see the police and EMS.  So I do understand, but it still sucks. 

My job would be sooooo much easier if each and every member of the public could come to my office to see how it works.  The general public has no idea.  They really don't.  Even in my little town, I think the majority of people think 9-1-1 calls are forwarded to some gigantic call center in Utah or California.  Nope.  We're local people, too.  They don't understand how 9-1-1 works, why things happen the way they do.  So I think I'm going to come up with a "Do's and Don'ts" list.  We put these in the paper every so often, but it doesn't really seem to help.  I'm going to give it another shot, though.

My desk at work.  I cleaned it up because it usually has papers scattered all over.  And coffee cups.