The City of Brownwood honored Brownwood Police communications emergency dispatchers with a mayoral proclamation at Tuesday’s City Council meeting in recognition of National Safety Communications Week, April 8th-14th. In addition, Guardian EMS cooked hamburgers for the communications dispatchers to show their appreciation.
During the council meeting, Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes read the proclamation which stated in part, that “the Public Safety Communications Officers of the City of Brownwood have contributed substantially to the mitigation of crime, apprehension of criminals, suppression of fires, and treatment of patients; and each communications officer has exhibited compassion, understanding, and professionalism during the performance of their duties.”
Assistant Police Chief James Fuller explained the job of emergency dispatch and the reasons for this week’s proclamation and recognition.
“One of the most difficult jobs in law enforcement is that of being a communications officer. These men and women generally have no idea what questions and what problems will lie with every phone call. From a barking dog to family members not breathing, a communications officer must be able to quickly and efficiently answer the call and get the proper first responder en route.
Many communications officers truly want to help, and hurt for the people on the other end of the line but they also have the added stress of feeling helpless because they are unable to jump through the phone and actively help. The rewards for this labor are often times internal. There are no counselors or mentors to guide you through your emotions; only the next call to have to answer. The job never ends.
The proclamation is just a simple way for us to let our communications officers know that we do care about them and are appreciative of the work that they do.”
A dispatcher of 18 years and now Dispatch Manager, Deidra Molotsky agreed that the job can be difficult but for some it is a calling. She explained that dispatchers must be able to do many things such as multitask, answer multiple phone and radio calls, enter data, know how to use a map, be able to prioritize situations, know emergency codes, and know how to handle the non-emergency callers who sometimes are irate or abusive.
“It’s stressful but I enjoy it. I’d rather be on my side of an emergency than on the front line,” said Molotsky. “Your instincts go into play and you know just what you need to do.”
Molotsky stated that sometimes not knowing the outcome of a serious injury or event is often hard on dispatcher’s emotions.
“A lot of times we don’t know what happens after we finish the call,” said Molotsky. “Sometimes we don’t get to know the end results in cases of care flights, medical problems or missing people.”
Other dispatchers, Christina and Kim, agreed stating that high priority calls are really stressful.
“The initial contact when the caller is screaming and frantic is sometimes the hardest call to take, sometimes the caller isn’t cooperative (to answer questions),” said Christina. “I like it when it is busy. I love the camaraderie of coworkers. It can be stressful, but if you’ve been doing it long enough, you just move on to the next thing.”
Christina also spoke of a call she received from a man who stated, “I’m going to be beside the house under the carport” and then hung up. She couldn’t call him back because it was a disconnected cell phone he had called in on. Later she learned that he had been found, after committing suicide, by his nephew. The helpless feeling of not being able to find out what he was planning or to alert someone to help before it is too late is a hard thing to deal with, she explained.
“High priority calls where there is no one, not even the caller, who knows the address or location of the emergency is very stressful,” said Kim. “Sometimes it takes a series of questions to determine the location when people are in a serious wreck and don’t know where they are or if they are hurt really bad, and that is when you know you have to get an officer there the quickest.”
Kim explained that emergency map programs can show where land line calls are coming in from, as well as most cell phones, but sometimes only a location of the cellular tower used in the call is available, making it necessary to get a description of the caller’s surroundings or general area. She further explained that sometimes the caller is not able to give this information if they are badly hurt.
“I enjoy helping the officers, narrowing down the information for them. A lot of investigative work is done on our part before the officer is even able to get there,” said Kim. “It’s also rewarding knowing you that you are helping the same people that you stand behind in line at Wal-Mart.”
Molotsky stated that she and the other officers in dispatch appreciate the Police Chief and Assistant Chief, as well as the council for recognizing them.
“I want to thank the Chief and Assistant Chief for recognizing us. We’ve had this National Week for years and it has never been recognized in the 18 years I’ve been here,” said Molotsky. “It means a lot that they are recognizing it and we appreciate it.”
Chief Mike Corley stated that Brownwood Police Department appreciates their dispatchers.
“Our dispatchers have a very difficult job and we appreciate what they do for us,” said Corley.
There are 15 dispatchers who work 3-5 dispatchers per shift each day at the Brownwood Communications office. They answer calls from the public as well as handling all Brown County law enforcement agencies communications including Brownwood, Early, and Bangs Police Departments, Brown County Sheriff’s Office, and all area fire departments. According to Molotsky, because of the shift work and stressful nature of the job, there is a high turnover rate in most dispatch offices.
Pictured at top are (left to right): Mayor Steven Haynes with communications officers Deidra Molotsky, and Justin Storch. Below: Dispatcher, Kim, inputs data from a call.
