Carson City 911 dispatchers recognized this week as the unseen first, first responders

While first responders on a fire, accident or crime scene are deputies, ambulance and fire department personnel, it is 911 dispatch who are the lifeline between the victim and responding agencies. Tucked in a high-tech facility all their own, the Carson City Sheriff’s Office Communications 911 Center responds 24-hours a day, seven days a week, day or night to crisis phone calls.

This week, emergency dispatchers are being recognized nationwide as part of National Public-Safety Telecommunications Week. For the team of 19 emergency dispatchers who work at the Carson City communications center, their work is essential to saving lives and property.

“The dispatchers are our lifeline. They are the unseen first responders dedicated every moment of every day,” said Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong. “They are truly the first responders when it comes to medical instruction. They are the first to pick up the phone and they stay with callers until our deputies and firefighters arrive.”

In 2014, the Carson City Sheriff’s Office Communications 911 Center answered 163,055 calls or on average of 13,588 a month. Of those calls, approximately 20 percent were emergency 911 calls, said Furlong.

Carson City emergency dispatchers work in 12 hour shifts. The Communications Manager is Karin Mracek, who began with the division as a dispatcher 25 years ago. The center has six dispatch workstations and each station views five computer monitors consisting of the telephone system, mapping, radio channels and CAD. The screens are also equipped to handle all National Crime Information Center and Nevada Criminal Justice Information System functions which are the method of running subjects, articles and vehicles for warrants, stolen information or DMV data.

The computer aided dispatch system provides swift call entry, deployment, updates and communications in conjunction with the phone call for assistance and radio broadcast and transmissions to the appropriate field unit. During the call process, 911 operators are often challenged with providing pre-arrival information which sometimes mandates life saving instructions.

After business hours, the center also picks up the emergency lines for the City's public works and local government departments. These calls can also dictate additional action and off-duty personnel may be contacted and dispatched to various after hour community or individual emergencies.

Technical operations aside, Mracek says the team is a tremendous asset to Carson City.

“It is so easy to talk about them because they are such an outstanding group,” she said of the dispatchers and two part-time warrant entry employees. “They truly care about public safety and officer safety. Sometimes I hear about other businesses and issues with employees. I always feel lucky because these dispatchers are truly dedicated in doing the best job they can. I’m very blessed and the city’s very blessed to have them all.”

The job is stressful, challenging and rewarding all at once, said Donna Milton, a supervisor with 30 years in emergency dispatch experience.

“You never know what’s coming in for the day,” she said. Dispatcher Marj Knowles, also a 30-year 911 dispatch veteran, said it’s a job that continues to change every day, not just in the volume of calls, but with technology improvements. “As a career, there’s not that many jobs out there where you get to do such a wide variety things. It is always changing. Every day, every call, there is something different.”

Liz Hertz has been a dispatcher for 19 years and said the job is challenging, gratifying and sometimes terrifying, noting that she and Knowles were dispatchers on duty during the Sept. 6, 2011 IHOP shooting in which five people died including the shooter.

“It’s a job that is second by second, minute by minute. We are there from the time the first call comes in to the time officers and firefighters arrive to the scene and are with them through the duration. Every moment with them is critical,” said Hertz.

Crisis calls are tense and involve a range of emotions from the callers. Dispatchers are trained to work with those emotional phone calls to extract information needed for police and fire agencies to respond.

“Their job is to save lives. They are the first, first responders,” said Mracek. “They are behind the phones and behind the radios. We know what we do is very critical and we do the best job we possibly can.”

The job of a dispatcher is not for everyone. There’s a lot of stress involved, especially after traumatic events, said Mracek. “It is an important job where mediocrity is a liability. One minute you can be working on something difficult and without having any time de-stress, a call comes seconds later that is equally as challenging.”

After the IHOP incident, there were debriefings that were very helpful for stress and processing, said Mracek, who also worked that day as a dispatcher. “There’s a part of you that wants you to make it better and you question yourself asking “how can I have done this better?” It stays with you through your entire career. I remember calls from 25 years ago. So you take the information, you have the support of your colleagues and you process in ways we know how to do. That’s what keeps us going.”

Kim Tripp, a Carson City emergency 911 dispatcher for seven years, said the job comes with its share of rewards and stress. She said having a husband in law enforcement helps with her in processing after a particularly difficult day. She also says humor is one of the best methods to help each other during those trying days.

“When there is a good outcome to calls, where lives are saved, when we are successful, this is what is rewarding,” said Tripp. “But then there are those days that don’t work out the way you want them to. To get past those days: That’s the challenge. You really have to love the job to be here.”

Amber Mang is the newest person on the Carson City emergency dispatch team, started the job 10 months ago. She said it is nothing like she thought it would be.

“You never know what it is like until you sit down and do it,” said Mang, whose grandmother was a career emergency dispatcher. “There’s more to it than picking up the phone. It is everything you must know about the job before you even pick up the phone.”

Each year, the second full week of April is dedicated to the men and women who serve as public safety tele-communicators. The State of Nevada has recognized dispatchers since the mid 1990s.

Mracek said she wishes every day was national dispatcher day but “at least one week of the year we can focus on them, and to let them know they are appreciated.”