VIDEO: 911 Dispatcher’s Manage Stress In The Job

AMORY, Miss. (WCBI)- 911 dispatchers undergo a lot of stress on a day to day basis in their jobs.

They have to remain calm even in the most chaotic situations. Despite their calm demeanor on the phone, in can certainly take a toll mentally on these individuals.

Tuesday, the Amory Police Department held a crisis management seminar for local dispatchers.

The seminar not only sharpens the dispatchers skills but helps them better handle the stress they undergo.

“The first responder is the dispatcher, the first person on scene is the dispatcher, the dispatcher sometimes handles a very dangerous scene until it is safe for the responders to get on scene,” says Emergency Dispatch Training Instructor Laura Spell.

Spell’s job is to train these dispatchers to expect the unexpected.

“I prepare them for what they need to do, give them examples of things they’ve never even heard of. Once you have heard the call and you’ve thought about the call in your head you’ve handled the call and whenever you get the call it’s no surprise and you know what to do about it,” says Spell.

Their main goal is to keep the caller calm while trying to get as much information as possible.

The dispatcher is the eyes and ears of an officer before they arrive on scene.

“We don’t want to send our officer into something and them not know what they’re going into, so when we ask all those questions you know our officer safety and the public’s safety are our primary concerns,” says dispatcher Beth Hughes.

And the holiday’s are one of their busiest times of the year.

“We call it Christmas stealing instead of Christmas shopping. There’s purse snatching, armed robberies increase. Anytime you have families together for the holidays there’s a lot more occasions for domestics,” says Spell.

Beth Hughes has been a dispatcher for the past 16 years. She knows firsthand how difficult it can be for a caller to remain calm.

“We’re not trying to minimize what you’re going through, but in order to get you the best help that we can get you, we need you to stay calm and answer all the questions,” says Hughes.

Hughes says that the stress management seminar helps her in more ways than one.

“This class helps us try and manage our stress when we have to deal with these situations. When a crisis comes in you have to try and remember that you are the one that’s the first responder for these people,” says Hughes.

Hughes says another call they receive a lot during the holidays are house fires from people not being attentive while cooking.