Dispatcher details importance of National Telecommunicators Week

BENTON Ky. (KBSI) –  “We are the true first, first responders, but a lot of people don’t realize that.”

National Public Safety Telecommunicators week is held annually during the second week of April to honor public safety telecommunicators, and two women in the profession highlights the importance of their roles.

Shari Clapp has dispatched for 27 years with the Kentucky State Police, and she says this week is a meaningful one for dispatchers, because are more than just a voice on your phone.

“They have no idea what we do, or how complicated it is, how much training you need. Both classrooms, on the job.”  Said Clapp.

Training for dispatch in Kentucky can take about a month, and with good reason. Clapp says it’s not just a simple phone call taking place; most could be doing 5 or 6 things at one time. Paging a fire department while talking to someone else with a foot pedal, or giving instructions to help deliver a baby, doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary for dispatchers.

She says, “We’re paging people out, we’re giving EMD instructions, medical instructions over the phone before the ambulance gets there. And that’s a big thing now and it can make a difference. You can save a choking child before the ambulance gets there with what we tell them.”

Empathy is important to have in this position, however, it can come at a cost of PTSD with more heartbreaking phone calls. Imagine hearing about a situation and only piecing together the scene with your thoughts. “At least you know what’s going on, it is our imagination when you take the call and I hope our imagination is worse than the actual scene, but you never know.” Clapp adds.

According to Interim Supervisor Jessica Treas, dispatchers take approximately 60,000 calls per year, which can range from CPR to administrative calls.

“911 dispatch isn’t just emergency and non-emergency calls; we take everything from other administrative duties as far as with the court system and things like that.” Said Treas. “Everybody is struggling right now, with keeping people and I mean it can go anywhere from people finding other jobs to not really even knowing what 911 is. You’d be surprised how many people don’t realize what 911 is.”

The dispatchers say, although the position can be hard at times, it can also be fulfilling. Additionally, the hard work was acknowledged this week, by how much community members showered the telecommunicators with gifts, to highlight the importance of our unseen heroes.