By Nick Draper
Idaho Falls Post Register (Idaho)
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Everyone deserves to be recognized, especially these “heroes on the hill,” the name given to 911 dispatchers by the Idaho Falls Police Department.
Today marks the start of National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, which gives people throughout the public safety arena and the general public a chance to express their gratitude and appreciation for dispatchers.
A dispatcher is typically the first person you’ll talk to in an emergency, taking calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Last year, Idaho Falls dispatchers sent police officers, Bonneville County sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and emergency medical technicians to more than 140,000 calls for help.
As the IFPD notes in a news release, many dispatchers work 16-hour shifts to make sure someone is around to answer your call. They offer all kinds of help, from giving instructions for delivering babies, administering first aid and how to not inflict further injury while waiting for emergency responders to arrive.
“Personally, I can’t think of a more difficult job,” IFPD Lt. Joe Cawley said in an e-mail. “At the scene, you’re able to make decisions and see the outcome of your actions... They do not get the benefit of being able to debrief and talk about what happened.”
Very true.
I’ve had the chance on a couple of occasions to sit in with dispatchers at the old fire station on the corner of Skyline Drive and Grandview Avenue.
Armed with a headset to listen in on calls, I quickly realized there’s no way I could do that job.
I was overwhelmed from the start, and I wasn’t even doing anything.
Facing four computer monitors and a huge console with numerous buttons and lights, my first was a quote from the movie “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” a flick depicting the book by the late Hunter S. Thompson: “The dashboard was full of esoteric lights and dials and meters that I would never understand.”
Yep, that about sums it up.
The IFPD dispatchers weren’t troubled at all, calmly maneuvering through the computer system with ease.
When an emergency call comes in, someone’s on the phone in no time and can seamlessly direct the closest EMT, deputy, officer or firefighter right to the scene of your emergency.
Something everyone should be thankful for.
I know I am.
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