RICHLAND, Wash.
National Public Safety Telecommunications Week is a chance to recognize the important work of people on the other side of a 911 call. It recognizes what they do to help get firefighters, EMS workers and police where they need to be in an emergency.
She said while they may not be the ones coming to do CPR or deliver a baby they do help with the aforementioned services and in non-emergencies too.
“It is incredible to feel like you are helping your community every day, we know when we leave, we have helped somebody,” she said.
As a supervisor, she often helps other dispatch operators by filling in where needed. A role that has become more important over the last few years with her short-staffed center in particular actively looking for ten additional employees.
She said the job can be faster paced during the twelve-hour day shift and slows down during the night shift. The room stays operational twenty-four hours a day – seven days a week.
Dispatchers act as the first-first responders and in doing so they take on some of the trauma when difficult calls come in according to Fornier-Plante.
“It’s always kind of a little removed so it’s adjacent to things, we don’t see what’s happening, but we hear what’s happening and we kind of go through it in the moment with them,” she said.
She says they have to quickly move on to other calls that could be a noise complaint or another emergency.
“Recently we’ve talked a lot about crisis intervention techniques and how to help people when they’re not at their best,” she said.
She told me the team has a morale committee to keep their spirits up with games, snacks and recognition.
“I think that they do really hard work, with not a lot of recognition and they’re not looking for it which almost makes it even cooler,” she said.
They have an online form for those interested in seeing what the job is like before you apply.
