(KNSI) — When you call 911, have you ever wondered who answers the phone?
This week has been set aside as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week to recognize these sometimes unsung heroes for what they do.
Whether they’re calmly talking someone through delivering a baby, or telling someone how to perform CPR while help speeds to a scene, Stearns County Communications Sergeant Michele Burke tells KNSI News says she appreciates the honor explaining, “Not a lot of people realize what goes on down in the dispatch center, and so it’s nice to be able to have this week to highlight some of the work that these folks do. And we’ve got a lot of people that have been here a long time.”
Burke says, “90 percent of what we deal with, I’d say is probably someone’s worst day,” but dispatchers value having the ability to help people in their time of crisis. “If there’s something that we can do to try to get them help or try to make it better for them, then that’s very rewarding.”
No two days are the same in the combined Stearns County/St. Cloud dispatch center and duties are divided so they get a chance to work in different areas. There are two teams as dispatchers often work in pairs, one on the phone and the other on the radio, sending help.
Stearns County has the 9th busiest dispatch center in the state, so hundreds of calls are answered each 12 hour shift, but Burke says her favorite is “Baby deliveries!” Another nice aspect of the job is “being able to talk someone down if they’re having a crisis of some sort. And, you’re able to be that sounding board for them and offer them some emotional support and condolences until help gets to them.”
She says that sometimes people stop by to say thanks, and occasionally, you hear from people after the fact and send thank you cards.
NPSTW is held during the second week of April to honor public safety telecommunicators for their service and sacrifice. NPSTW was initially started in 1981 by Patricia Anderson of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in California.
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