Most know that dispatchers are known for their calm voice; a steady reassuring sound, during all emergencies.
However, little is ever talked about their keen sense of hearing. The ability to tune into their “radio ear” is a separate skill set that accompanies that calm voice simultaneously. Having the ability to detect, scan, tune and recognize something that is not correct before the last syllable of a word is heard is a valuable, unique attribute.
As soon as the words of “Where is your emergency” is spoken to a caller there is usually a blast of multiple background noises including the caller’s voice. A dispatcher will talk and redirect the caller to the matter at hand while still scanning and listening to all that is going on. Here is a short example:
As the phone rings…
Dispatcher: “9-1-1, Where is your emergency?”
Caller: “Oh, sorry, it must have been dialed by accident. Sorry about that I didn’t mean to call.”
Dispatcher: “Is everything OK?”
Caller: “Yes; sorry, no emergency.”
The dispatcher could tell that something was off, was this caller crying, stressed, or maybe scared. In the background there was another voice telling them to get off the phone. Then there was a faint sound of something possibly breaking then maybe a small whimper but not from the caller, from a child. All the sounds were happening while dispatch was still talking to the caller. The caller was adamant that nothing was wrong. However, the well-tuned-in ear was saying something different. Dispatch was able to keep the caller on the line just long enough to verify the location before they stated ‘all was fine’ then hung up. There was something that was not right. Dispatch sent law enforcement to do a well-being check. Upon arrival there was a domestic in-progress with one parent intoxicated. In a bedroom there was a six-year-old hiding while crying in their closet. Items were broken and strung all over the home. This could have been a very different outcome if a dispatcher had not heard what was not said.
These skill sets are not only for the calling citizens but for the field responders also. Even when a dispatcher is on the phone with the caller, they are still listening for the filed responders. There are multiple agencies with many personnel for each agency that is dispatched. A dispatcher knows each one of those field responders by voice. Their everyday routine voice. If there is any change in that voice whether it be the pitch, speed or emergent sound of even the slightest a dispatcher will pick up on it. With that setting the tone of how the event is going. There are times when silence is the loudest sound there is. The silent seconds that tick away when an officer will not respond or answer the radio, whether it be a questionable or routine call. The microseconds after EMS request law enforcement but their radio transmission stops before the reason is heard. Then the passing seconds until contact is made with them again. The silence that follows a firefighter updating a scene information as a loud yell is heard, or the words “Mayday” comes across the radio from that usually calm firefighter.
It is a thing of amazement to sit and watch a dispatcher at work. Multiple calls will be active, with all types of emergencies. They dispatch EMS, fire, and law enforcement to separate calls. There is still outside traffic on the radio and multiple callers regarding different matters and they are still able to adjust. As one of the responders that they are responsible for starts to speak, all else goes silent and they are tuned into them. They are able to pick their voice and know what scene they are on, out of the many voices that were active. Explaining this ‘radio ear’ to anyone is better done by visual and experience. It is not something that can be learned from any text.
There are sounds that are heard every day. Some sounds they may never silence; those are the sounds that accompany different calls that they have had. They have heard last words, last breaths, and first breaths. There are pleas for help, screams of pain, cries of joy and reactions of the horror taking place. Every small sound, sometimes seeming in slow motion, is heard and analyzed faster than most blink. These sounds usually don’t matter, and a dispatcher will decompartmentalize those sounds to accomplish the task at hand. When the call is over, no matter the severity of it, those sounds are still correlated to that call. When it is least expected, maybe minutes, days or years later but one day it will happen. They will hear a sound, the sound similar to a sound from that one call and it will resonate in their mind, bringing them right back to the time of that call. Usually without warning they will be right back there replaying every aspect, questioning themselves if they could have done more or something different. Specifics they thought they had forgotten will clearly be as present as the second it happened.
I have responded to the statement many times over in my career, the statement along the lines of a dispatcher just answers the phone. It is true that phone calls are answered. However, “just” has no place in the statement or question when it comes to what a 9-1-1 dispatcher does. These HEROES show up everyday and handle call after call. In one shift they may be a part of more emergency life events than an ordinary person will be involved in their entire lifetime. Every interaction they have sticks with them. It is carried in a way that no one may ever see, but they know it is there and some days are heavier than others.
The Texas County Emergency Services office in Houston is funded by a 3/8-cent countywide sales tax approved by voters in 2013. Director Terra Culley can be reached by phone at 417-967-5309 or by email at terraculley911@hotmail.com.