Keri Thornton
Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
(MCT)
Oct. 6—Dispatchers and call-takers for 911 are on the front lines for people facing dire emergencies, and they are trained to not only remain calm, but to keep the caller calm as well.
Cherokee County’s 911 system operations center houses three agencies: Northeastern Health System EMS, Cherokee Nation EMS, and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. The center also handles all fire and EMS calls in both city and county, to dispatch the appropriate responders.
During the duration of any emergency call, dispatchers ask the caller a series of questions to allow first responders and law enforcement to decide how to approach the situation.
“A lot of times, callers will get mad at us and say, ‘Just come, just send somebody,'” said Lorraine Baker, supervisor of Cherokee County Sheriff’s Dispatch. “We need to know this information; that way our deputies know what’s going on before they get there, and they’ll hang up.”
First responders or law enforcement officers will still respond, even if the caller says the help is no longer needed.
“We’re going to make sure everything is still OK and do a welfare check. They’re mad at the call-taker and they don’t understand that the questions we’re asking [are so] we know the situation we’re sending the deputies into,” said Baker.
While there is no annual training for dispatchers or 911 call-takers, Baker said she does pull calls to ensure appropriate questions are being asked, that the employees are professional, and that they remain calm.
“I try to remember it’s not my emergency when people call, and that helps keep me calm. I know some people don’t like to think of it that way, because they think it’s not being taken seriously,” said Baker.
贝克说if she remains calm during the call, she can ask the appropriate questions and get the person the right help.
If a caller is injured, scared or alone, dispatchers and call-takers try to keep talking to the person, and to keep him or her talking until help arrives.
“[We] just talk to them and make sure they know we are there for them,” she said. “In emergency situations, we typically stay on the phone with them until somebody gets there. We’ll listen to see what had happened and if anything was escalating or we lose contact with them.”
Calls to 911 made within the city limits are routed to the 911 center and then transferred to the Tahlequah Police Department, just as long as EMS personnel are not needed.
The same goes for 911 calls made out in the county: The call goes to the 911 center, and that’s when the sheriff’s office is dispatched. If the caller needs medical assistance, an ambulance and first responders are sent to them in the county.
切罗基县911年协调员艾丽西娅毡合毛毡类said there are roughly 25 to 30 employees at CC911. She said a backup center is stationed in the city in case power is cut or lost to the 911 center.
“We actually have a backup center [at Emergency Management] and we can start dispatching and taking 911 calls out of that center,” she said.
Dispatchers tightly control the calls so those on the phone can get the services they need.
贝克说it could take deputies anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes to respond to a call, and that depends on the type of call and if and where they are available.
“Dispatchers, we don’t go off of a rotation. We go off of whoever is the closest unit that is available,” Baker said. “If the call is in Hulbert and the closest unit is in the Lost City area, then they’ll be coming from Lost City. We’ll relay all of that information to whoever is responding so they’re updated on what’s going on. If they are running Code 1 to a domestic, it’s because it wasn’t physical, but if it’s physical, they can update to Code 3, which is lights and sirens.”
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