\u201cHe was the same age as my son at the time, and the little boy\u2019s mama was dying. That would be one you would transfer to Northstar and then hang up, but that little kid was by himself with his mama and she\u2019s dying, and he\u2019s freaking out. I had him halfway calm and I was not going to let him go. I stayed on the phone with him while we dispatched Northstar. I didn\u2019t let him go, and he saw her take her last breath,\u201d Lola, Searcy Police Department (SPD) dispatch worker, said.<\/p>\n
Lola, a dispatcher for approximately 13 years, said the people who work at the SPD give the department a unique quality compared to others. She is one of the dispatchers who answers police-station calls and responds to 911 emergencies. Working closely with police officers, the employees make life-or-death decisions every day.<\/p>\n
The Searcy dispatch office, located in the SPD, answers all 911 and nonemergency related calls for the fire and police department, as well as forward calls to North Star. According to Jobe, the office receives 150 to 175 calls a day, 75-100 of them being 911 calls. They talk and type simultaneously and forward information to the specific department.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt almost seems like 911 is an entity in its own, but it’s people \u2014 real people who answer that phone and we are the true first responders,\u201d Michelle Jobe, dispatch supervisor for the SPD said. \u201cWhen something tragic happens in someone\u2019s life, an emergency, we are the first people they talk to \u2014 not the officer, not the fireman, not the paramedic \u2014 it\u2019s us. I don\u2019t think the people realize that we do speak with people on the worst days of their lives, every day, all day.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 2015 Business Insider article ranked police, fire and ambulance dispatch as the most stressful job in the U.S. According to a 2012 study from the Journal of Traumatic Stress, 911 operators are at risk for duty-related trauma that may lead to post-tramatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we hear on a daily basis, we can\u2019t unhear,\u201d Jobe said.\u00a0 \u201cWe can\u2019t unhear the screaming of the mother who just found her child dead. We can\u2019t unhear the officer screaming when he\u2019s being shot at \u2014 we can\u2019t unhear that. And at night, when you lie down, where the officers see they can\u2019t unsee, we can\u2019t unhear.\u201d<\/p>\n
When 2-year-old Malik Drummond was reported missing on Nov. 24, 2014, Jobe coordinated search and response teams. Jobe was on-call 24\/7, and worked 36 consecutive hours before returning home. She said she worked nearly 100 hours that week.<\/p>\n
The dispatchers at the SPD agreed that a career as an emergency operator is a lifestyle, calling it \u201cthe hardest job you will ever get addicted to.\u201d They hug their families tighter and teach their children how to navigate the city\u2019s neighborhoods and which areas to avoid.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I had been here about 10 or 15 years, I had an aunt come to me and tell me, \u2018You\u2019re not the same person you used to be; you\u2019re not happy,\u2019\u201d Jobe said. \u201cYou can\u2019t hear what we hear and deal with what we deal and It not affect you on a level that changes you forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lola began working with law enforcement when she was 25 years old. She first worked in a jail before the SPD. After working for several departments, she said the SPD has become like family and is an encouragement and support group during mentally and emotionally challenging days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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