[00:00] I spent 13 years as a 911 dispatcher. This is everything that I'm authorized to tell you. and you think, wow, that's what it's going to be.
[00:12] you end up hearing a parent scream because their child isn't breathing. That is when it's real and people just are not cut out for it. in, we have to start triaging these calls.
[00:27] You are the one who has to decide which one is the highest priority the highest priority.
[00:41] actually does is they are taking calls People are not calling in when they're having the best day possible.
[00:54] Some of the sounds that stick with me these phone calls that I took. A call that I can remember taking it was a girl who, she had just broken up with her boyfriend,
[01:10] and he kind of started stalking her. And I see him walking around the house. So I get all the information that I need to get.
[01:25] She's hiding in the basement right now from him. but at the same time, in the back of my mind, I'm freaking out there with her
[01:37] because I'm thinking, please don't let this person break into the house. time to get to her and to get this guy out of there. and I can feel the hair in the back of my neck standing a little bit.
[01:55] he hits the doorbell, and it was so loud in my headset that I remember it rattled my ear a little bit and she goes, yeah, he's he's hitting the doorbell.
[02:09] And as I'm typing all of this in, it goes off again. Officers end up getting there on scene and the guy runs.
[02:21] Now if I'm at, you know, a hardware store or something and I have stopped and I think, oh yeah, that was from
[02:35] that call. where a mom is calling in hysterical, and they have a child that is choking.
[02:48] Hopefully the information is coming from a landline where it's on the screen, and I can start dispatching right away. All I could hear was slapping on the back.
[03:02] And I have to tell the mom, do not slap your child on the back. I will help you with the Heimlich, because if you're hitting them on the back, it's possible it's going to end up getting stuck even further.
[03:15] Do you want me to let my child just choke and die? And I'm telling her, no, no, no, no, I've already got help heading out So some of the go-to phrases, I think that we try to stay away from,
[03:27] you don't always want to tell them, calm down. Because what's going to happen? I remember telling people, I just need you to try
[03:44] And I think, though, if your voice is just calm, It doesn't always work, right.
[03:57] But when you're talking to someone and you're a little more calm in general, In the back of my head, I'm freaking out just like you are because I'm human too.
[04:09] You will just hear the even tone, no matter how ridiculous it might seem to you that I'm asking tons of questions. It's to keep you safe and to get help out to you as fast as possible.
[04:23] They are hysterical when you are talking to them. if you raise your voice because they're not going to hear you.
[04:35] If you bring your voice down to a whisper, almost where they will end up thinking, what? Is anyone even there? And when they stop and they ask, that's when you jump in.
[04:50] There are some phone calls that come in, especially on social media. And this is something that has come up for a few years now
[05:02] hey, if you call 911 you want to order a pizza, they know right away
[05:14] It's a protocol that they use, and I'm just here to tell you that's not true. to listen for whatever it is that's going on.
[05:29] So if you call me and you're asking me to order a pizza, I'm going to tell you you've reached 911. And if they continue to say, yeah, you know, I want pepperoni and mushroom
[05:45] or however they say it, then I know, hey, this doesn't sound right. Are you able to speak right now? No. Is there someone there with you? Yes.
[06:00] Yes. So we start going through those questions, So the whole pizza thing, it's not something that we practice at all. however, because it's been around social media so much.
[06:16] I think people are thinking about it more when a phone call comes in All I hear is breathing. Now we need to figure out what it is that's going on.
[06:32] Every little thing that is going on within the environment of where that caller is, I am listening to, and I am typing everything in.
[06:45] I have a location I'm able to put out. I've got an open line, unknown situation that is going on. The main radio dispatcher for law enforcement is watching in real time
[07:03] what I am typing in, and they are toning out for officers. So when I say toning out, what I mean is there are high priority calls doo doo doo doo doo doo, a tone that will go over
[07:19] who's listening, so that they know that a high priority call is coming in. Some of those mistakes that callers make when they are calling in
[07:32] that can slow down responses, help going out towards them is when they go off on different adventures. So when someone is calling in, we need that information.
[07:48] We need to know exactly what it is that is going on. There are some times when callers end up saying, we'll see, you know, a month ago and start the whole timeline of what is going on.
[08:01] where even myself, I've had to say, I need what's going on right now, You can tell me the rest of the stuff as we're waiting for officers to go there. But I need to know the main reason for why you're calling.
[08:16] And people might see that or hear that as me being rude, but I'm trying to get you help as fast as possible.
[08:29] end up becoming almost a chameleon, now you become a negotiator. You become a therapist. You are a parent. you end up becoming while doing this job.
[08:46] I remember some calls, but one specifically where we had a negotiator coming in, barricaded gunman, but this person had built this rapport, this trust
[08:59] with the dispatcher who was taking the call. They didn't want to get on with the negotiator. The negotiator was on the other line listening
[09:13] to the dispatcher so the dispatcher could tell that person what was going on, getting other information, or whichever.
[09:27] things in the news and you only know part of the story. But when you get in there, some of those calls that come in, you kind of see the darker part of humanity.
[09:41] And I can't take credit for this, but it's something that I mentioned a lot is you think about Scooby-Doo growing up and you, you're watching as a kid and you've got these, this group who are looking for this monster.
[09:55] But at the end, what those monsters all end up being are human. And sometimes when you're taking these calls, it makes that a reality. Because monsters are real and they're human.
[10:09] is that our 911 dispatch, rather, is that we are simply answering phone calls and sending out help. But they don't realize when you're listening to these phone calls,
[10:23] how they stay with you and how they can impact you as well. The call that I took once, where a lady was saying that someone was
[10:35] breaking in to their home, everything sounded real. And of course, immediately we're toning people out, sending them out. Priority one because there's people breaking in to this woman's house.
[10:49] Now, as I'm going through this, the story starts to change a little bit because the person ends up saying that there are two guys that are breaking and we all have the same CAD system and CAD
[11:06] This is where we're typing in all of these complaints that are coming in, and people can see them on their screens as well. And maybe it's a call that they've taken before as well.
[11:21] And they will send a message over and it'll pop up on my screen Make sure you check this narrative in our, that has information on past calls and maybe some notes that have been added.
[11:39] The sergeant who had gone out there before goes on the radio and says, central, I will head out there as well, and it turned out Nothing was going on.
[11:54] that we can also just simply click into that complaint, read what is going on and everyone in the room knows exactly what is going on in pretty much real time.
[12:12] that are coming in, we have to start triaging these calls. Really, it's the highest priority to the lowest priority. But this happens in split seconds in a kind of a short scenario.
[12:27] I'm on phones. I'm the only one on phones. during shift change, but especially because people are coming home from work. So everyone is on the roads and I take a phone call for a a P.I.
[12:42] This is on the highway, but we've got help Another call comes in a verbal domestic call. We have someone heading out there as well.
[12:59] and sirens to get to this because again anything can happen. And because I'm the only one on the phones and who can get that phone call,
[13:11] And there are times where I would put someone And I don't blame them because you're calling 911.
[13:23] Why are you going to put me on hold? And it might sound rude, but it's because there are tons of emergencies that are coming in at that same time, and we might be the only person.
[13:36] And when I pick up this other one, this one is a medical So now I'm doing CPR instructions and I'm basically there telling them to make sure that they're doing it the way they're supposed to be doing it.
[13:50] So there are three calls now that are going on. because the officers are going out. to see if anything has changed, now there's weapons involved.
[14:07] So the question is who do you stay with? Do you stay with the domestic where there's now weapons involved and you need to update them because this is in progress.
[14:20] Or do you go back to the CPR call where you're trying to help save a person's People might say different, but for myself, I go to the domestic because there's weapons involved.
[14:35] I'm also trying to keep them separated and get whoever's on the phone with me why wouldn't you stay with the CPR one? EMS has now just arrived.
[14:50] So you've got this one that's left and you're going through it. And hopefully officers get out there and everything ends up being completely fine. But that's just a scenario there where you are thinking on your feet.
[15:06] Now with medical, sometimes if I'm the only one who is on phones, I might have to put you on hold for just a moment and let them know what's going on, I might mute my microphone.
[15:21] And the reason for this as well is because you're going through this medical situation, and hear me toning this out and repeating what it is that is going on,
[15:34] it might elevate you even more that you start kind of freaking out even more. have been hit with short staffing nationwide.
[15:49] 1 in 4 seats in 911 call centers are left vacant. What makes people most cut out for this job is Thinking on your feet.
[16:01] And when I first started, my trainer told me that you need three things. Number one is you need thick skin. And number three, and this is probably the most important one.
[16:15] And one that has always stuck with me is that you need to be human. Even folks that have no experience at all of public safety. You can tell that there's something in their background that they just have
[16:30] that knack for service and wanting to help others. And at the time, all I had was retail management under my belt. And just one day my mom comes up to me and she says, you know,
[16:43] the chief of police said that they're hiring dispatchers. said, ma'am, I don't have any experience with 911. I said, I know what I see on TV.
[16:57] You remember my favorite show was Rescue 911 with William Shatner. I went and I filled out my application back in 2001. and my grandmother comes in and starts yelling at me.
[17:16] And it's the chief of police, I said, I haven't heard from you guys in two months. Do you want the job?
[17:29] And I went in that night and the trainer shows me everything there. I've never been on this side before, so I am in tune to what he's doing.
[17:44] And when he's done, I kind of applauded. And he goes, well, you're next. So now I'm sitting there waiting for this first call to come
[17:58] I have no idea what's going to be coming in. And the phone rings and I answer, Frostproof 911, where's your emergency?
[18:11] The lady ends up saying, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to call. I look at my trainer and he goes, well, you got the first one down.
[18:25] About a week or so later, I did have a 40-hour beginner's dispatch course. going back home to Southwest Michigan to finish off my career there.
[18:38] There's four different phases. The second phase, we end up doing a combination of radios and then backup phones and radios.
[18:51] So there's all of these different phases you're going through, but you're learning in that phase one, all of the protocols, all of the policies, all of the codes as well as geography.
[19:06] but you start out with non-emergency calls. come in and I'm the new one, I'm in training. It's an alarm call. You got this.
[19:22] scoring us on how well that we are doing with those non-emergency calls. Sometimes in those non-emergency calls, emergencies come in as well.
[19:36] So now you're jumping into this and depending on the emergency that's going on, your trainer might actually jump in But sometimes you just go
[19:49] and you just do it because you're the one who's on the call. my training was only 3 to 4 months, and that's because I had about four years But when you switch from being only one person to now a team,
[20:07] it's not as easy because now you also have the dynamic of working with the team and trying to understand how everyone works together so that you can work like a well-oiled machine.
[20:19] So for this training that I've been going through, this whole time, My trainer is next to me and some dispatch centers still have this.
[20:31] We call that the umbilical cord, which basically is two headsets And you've got this long cord that is connecting so that you can listen in. But when you go into phase four, though, now my trainer
[20:45] will be on the other side of the room, and if I need them, then I call for them. that we have for 911 professionals is EMD certification. So you can't take medical calls
[21:01] unless you have that certification so that you can be able to go through and figure out what it is that is going on and what response to get out there. We do have to take classes for CPR,
[21:14] The song Stayin Alive, because it's the same rhythm of what you need for compressions. for compressions for CPR.
[21:32] But we definitely have to have those certifications in order to be able to take the medical calls.
[21:44] on the phones, I'm not just taking a 911 call. I'm also taking nonemergency calls, answering the radio for fire and for EMS, and I'm typing everything in.
[21:56] where is your emergency? I mean, that's the one thing that we need to hammer to people. Now here's another thing.
[22:09] They're at home and their parent is they find them in the living room laying on their back. They call 911, but they don't know their address.
[22:23] Is there a piece of mail there? Or, you know, are you able to easily see the numbers on your house? that we can get the location, but especially for child callers.
[22:39] They don't know where they are. Landmarks is probably one of the best things we tell people. Because a lot of times there might be dispatchers that are working
[22:53] that know that area during an emergency Please answer the questions that we are asking you.
[23:06] The amount of questions that I ask does not delay the time, the response that someone is getting out there to you. Because as soon as you call, as soon as I have that location and I know
[23:18] just even a little bit of what's going on, I'm typing into my system. and they're already sending it out. We already have people going out there.
[23:35] I thought that I was leaving those on the shelf at work and they didn't come home with me, but that was that was a lie. There's a call that I took that really pushed me into
[23:51] starting to talk about these things, sharing stories and the therapeutic spot that hits with these stories that we're able to share when we're ready. My grandmother was really sick and she was in hospice care.
[24:07] All of my family were at my aunt's house where my grandmother was. It's about 3:30 in the morning, and my partner on the other side of the room ends up getting up
[24:20] and she goes, hey, Ricky, is it okay if I go to the break room? which is like tempting fate because you put it out there in the universe.
[24:32] She goes into the break room and no later did the door shut, but the phone rings. but I hesitated this time
[24:44] and I waited for about half a ring because that old phone system that we had, you had to wait half a ring for that information to pop up, and the information pops up and I recognize the cell phone
[24:59] All I could think was, that I'm going to be the one to take this call right now? So I pick up. "911 where's your emergency?"
[25:12] and she says, Ricky, And she goes, grandma just died. that I was the one to take the call
[25:28] when my grandmother passed away. Her and I were really close, but it was it was that call that ended up pushing me to think, you know what? I need to figure out what's going on with myself.
[25:41] Because as much as I love this profession and this job that I do, and helping people in those rewarding moments, this is killing me on the inside. So I started finally opening up
[25:55] Because in any profession, but especially public safety, with mental health where if you start asking for help, when you start talking about certain things, your calls or whichever.
[26:10] would think, well, Ricardo can't hack it anymore. There's this saying of the most important person you will never see,
[26:22] And from that time on, all of these resources started coming out. There are peer support teams that dispatch centers have where if someone has taken a call
[26:37] Some other dispatch centers, they have poker chips But what they do with that poker chip is they give it
[26:49] They don't say it out loud. It's not in an email. hey, I need to talk to somebody.
[27:04] of hard things, a lot of chaos. But the other side of it as well is that rewarding piece, taking calls from someone who's giving birth, hearing
[27:18] that baby be born and the crying. Those are moments to definitely hang on to being able to help save a life. One of the most important moments I feel for me was early
[27:32] on is around 2006, and I kind of needed a win. I'd been taking hard call after hard call after hard call, and one day I take this call from a mom and she's screaming.
[27:44] Her kids were all sledding down this hill. Her youngest daughter, she ended up sledding on to the pond that they had, and it was thin ice.
[27:57] So I'm getting everyone out. We've got help rushing to her and I'm on the phone with her. Let me know.
[28:09] Everyone gets there and we get off the phone and I'm at the edge of my seat. and I'm
[28:22] I'm praying and all I want to hear. to come over the radio. Like, please, please, please
[28:36] And finally they come over the radio and they say, we got her. I've been holding my breath the whole time.
[28:49] I was like, oh, a win, we saved her. One of the things that dispatchers We don't always know what it is that goes on in the end.
[29:06] my supervisor at the time, and she would always Right. And to all of us in the room who took this call?
[29:23] And she goes, the family took out an ad, everyone who is involved in saving their daughter. I said, yeah, and she cut it out
[29:38] and I still have it. for a 911 dispatcher can vary depending on
[29:51] the center that you're at, whether you're working eight-hour days or 12-hour days. I worked 4:30 p.m. I've dealt with short staffing as well.
[30:03] We also have an overtime list, a force-in list. it ends up getting split between the three of us.
[30:16] turns into a 16 hour shift, I would Because if you volunteer for the time you go to the bottom of the list,
[30:29] which is always good, I would work it all the way through so I would be there just in this example, 4:30 in the evening till 9:00 in the morning, from about 2016 until the present, everything is different.
[30:46] They've got the resources, were able to deal with that mental health and wellness. But it's being away from your family. It's the overtime, it's short staffing and the types of calls that you end up
[31:01] taking that eventually take a toll on you, and you need to figure out professionals, you may or may not know this, but we are not classified as the protective class.
[31:16] First responders-we're the first to answer the phone calls, and we're on that call until field responders get out there.
[31:28] and clerical workers, which I say this all the time. There has been a reclassification that's been going through this fight
[31:41] since about 2016, and this is something that we continue to fight. Dispatch centers have always been known as PSAPs, public safety answering points. And we're also going over to ECCs,
[31:56] So in the beginning it might have been seen as an admin or clerical type of position. with everything that's going on at the beginning
[32:13] it was the 911 SAVES Act and when this started out, actually had the privilege and honor to be able to announce it that this was going to be going out there for legislation.
[32:27] It was a bipartisan effort that was going through. It's just switching us to this class that we deserve It ultimately ended up not going through.
[32:43] First Response Act of 2025, this has actually passed the Senate. We need for people to reach out to all of their representatives to say,
[33:01] now that this has passed the Senate, we need this to pass the House as well. We're going to continue to fight for, and that will give us but it will also allow us to be able
[33:17] to finally get some sort of federal study when it comes to, you know, PTSD or anything else that affects us because we are affected by it, impacted by it just as much as those out in the field.
[33:30] eventually there will be changes that happen. I have seen ranges where let's just say
[33:42] people are starting out at 24 or $25 an hour. At one time, I saw that a director of a dispatch center was only making 60,000 a year.
[33:54] Being the director of the entire agency. So if they're making 60 a year, how does that impact everything that is going on?
[34:14] With calls coming in today, where you have all of the information right then in there you confirm it. We send people out, but the majority of people now have cell phones
[34:30] and when that information comes in, it is not always the best location. You've got the name that's registered to that address, you've got the address,
[34:43] you've got a latitude and longitude, and you've got the phone number So you've got all of this information that's right there. send it over to your computer where you're typing everything in.
[34:57] Now if it's a cell phone, it's a little bit different, because now you have kind of the location of where the tower is at. it's not something that you would immediately go off of.
[35:13] that's plotting, and it's plotting to an address. or at least a closest address of wherever the person is standing.
[35:26] And technology is good enough now that you can actually see where they are. potentially what floor. The technology from
[35:41] now in 2025 has changed exponentially. You have AI now coming in to the 911 space.
[35:53] It's supposed to be basically a companion on your shoulder, so to speak, that assists you to make the job a lot faster and easier for what it is that is going on, to save even more seconds
[36:05] It could be language translations. unless it was Spanish, my Spanish isn't the greatest. It was good enough that I was able to go through calls
[36:20] They would have to call through a service and do that connection where you've got someone who is translating in real time as you're doing it,
[36:33] you have to talk to that interpreter as if that is the caller. And that in itself, if you think about it, is cutting down
[36:45] you have different platforms that translate all of that stuff for you in real time, and you're just going back and forth.
[36:57] You also have Text-to-911 where if someone calls in on a cellphone and they hang up, there are some dispatch centers out there that they will do a text from 911
[37:10] and establish the, the texting call that way what we found is when you call back, people don't answer the phone, And sometimes there would be, you know, a domestic situation that's going on.
[37:25] before the suspect or the other party even knows what is going on. The one thing I always tell people is that the human factor
[37:37] will always be important, and it will always be needed. It is there to accompany and assist, not to take over. I was training dispatchers on how to use these different platforms
[37:52] while still doing what I do now, which is the Within the Trenches podcast and having dispatchers come on and share their stories. come on to the podcast to just share their stories.
[38:06] You know, good calls, bad calls, any of those things. But when all of these stories came out, we realized there are more people out there that are dealing with the same things,
[38:19] and maybe someone has already dealt with it, and now you can learn from them. If you enjoyed this video then please subscribe and comment with more topics that you'd like us to cover in this series.