National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, or more commonly known as National Dispatchers Week is celebrated between Apr. 12-18. The week-long celebration brings those voices behind the phone during an emergency to the forefront, for they are the first people responding to every crisis.
For Fannin County dispatchers, they are the first to hear your calls for help, no matter where you may be. They then coordinate first responders from; Bonham EMS, Bonham Fire Department, Bonham Police Department, Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, Honey Grove Police Department, Savoy Police Department, Leonard Police Department, Trenton Police Department, Ector Police Department, Ladonia Police Department, Department of Public Safety, Game Wardens, Precinct Constables, and multiple Volunteer EMT/Fire Departments all who are on standby during every minute of the day waiting to respond.
It takes an extraordinarily exceptional person to be a dispatcher. Not only do they have to be a superstar at multitasking, but they also have to have the innate ability to communicate clearly and calmly with all kinds of people.
On any given shift, dispatchers are known to wear many different hats, coordinating, and helping other departments respond to a call. Working hand in hand with each other, helping strengthen the need to get help to the victim even when sometimes they don’t have all the information.
Of all the thousands of calls that come into your dispatcher’s lines each day, week, and year, know no matter what your call is about, they are there, and the voice on the end of the line that stays with you until help arrives.
One such extraordinary local dispatcher is veteran dispatcher Destiny Tweedy with the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office. Tweedy, who comes from a first responder family, says that she has always had the drive to help others and that her career as a dispatcher was one that she fell into by accident and since has never looked back.
“I wanted to help people, and one day I was reading the paper when I came across a hiring ad for dispatchers. It somehow piqued my interest, and after I had my interview, I never looked back. This is who I am; this is what I was meant to do,” Tweedy explained.
Tweedy, like every other dispatcher, has put in hundreds of hours of training, as well as acquiring multiple certifications to be able to render all kinds of help to the person on the other end of the phone line.
“We are a part of one big happy, sometimes dysfunctional family that never waivers giving love and support to each other,” said 20-year veteran dispatcher Megan Davenport Robinson with the Bonham Police Department.
Robinson says that over her long years of service, dispatchers bring more than just comradery to their team; they become a support system like nonother always there before, during, and after tough calls. They are there to help celebrate the great outcomes-they are there no matter what.
“Some of the worst calls that come in are the ones when the discovery of a deceased loved one happens, and you have to help them through that moment, the worst moment of their life. That can be hard to work through,” she says. “But they can also come hand in hand with the good calls, the ones where you can help a person administer CPR, the moment where you hear the baby cry, or the person on the other end of the phone cries with relief because someone is breathing again. They are the calls that you know you were an important part of a great outcome.”
Though countless calls end with an outcome that is the most optimal, there are those that although they end in some form of tragedy, it is the love and appreciation from the family that makes it a success to the dispatcher.
Robinson remembers one such story where a call came in from a man who said his wife was having a tough time sleeping one night. She eventually got out of bed and moved to the couch. Knowing she had a very restless night, he left her to sleep while he began some chores around the house. Eventually, he went back to check on her as she hadn’t moved at all. Not waking up, he called 911.
For 26 minutes, Robinson stayed with the husband on the phone, both knowing the wife had passed on, and they were past the point of immediate help. She stayed with him on the phone, comforting him while their team worked to get family notified, and first responders to the home to support him.
“It was hard at times as I was fighting back the tears,” she said. “We talked about their kids and grandkids as we waited for someone to get there.”
About a week later, the husband’s son personally contacted the office, thanked Robinson for being there for his father, for helping him when he was on his own, and for being there in his most heartbreaking moment.
“When he phoned and thanked me on behalf of his family, it was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had over my career to date. I felt honored to be the voice that helped him, the voice to reassure him that he was not alone,” said Robinson.
“Knowing at the end of every shift you have helped someone is a feeling that is beyond the call,” explained Tweedy. “We not only get the honor of being that first person to respond, but we also get the morality knowing that we made a difference to someone while being at their most vulnerable.”
Unsung heroes are how most of their first responder family describes their dispatchers. Knowing they are the ones that are heard and not ever seen.
“Our dispatchers are the backbone of our Department. They have awesome responsibilities that one can only imagine. It takes a very special individual to be able to accept those responsibilities and do the job. They are extraordinary people with unique abilities. Our community is blessed to have those individuals doing this job,” said Bonham Police Chief Mike Bankston.
Extraordinary people live the same life and face the same challenges as ordinary people do. But their response and set of values are different. A remarkable person is one who has a strong sense of what is right or wrong, and who chooses to stand by the right, to be there when the times are tough and not waiver in the shadows of danger. And the dispatchers who serve Lamar County are seen as more than just great; they are extraordinary.
“Dispatchers are the first line of communication between law enforcement and a potential victim. They are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with,” echoed Fannin County, Sheriff Mark Johnson.
Of all the admiration from colleagues and those that our dispatchers have helped; dispatcher Natalie Massey sums it up best for the next generation of the thin gold line, “Being the person to connect with someone on their worst day and being that person to help them through it is an undeniable feeling,” she said. “This by far is the most rewarding career you’ll ever have the privilege of being a part of.”
Thank you, Fannin County dispatchers, for all you do to keep our community safe.
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