9-1-1 dispatchers recognized, speak on emotional toll

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCetral) — The second week of April is designated as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week to recognize the important work emergency dispatchers do for their community.

9-1-1 operators routinely handle calls that are a matter of life and death which can take an emotional toll on the dispatchers.

“It’s never a good day when you have to call 9-1-1," said Isidro Jara, Communications Supervisor with the Edinburg Police Department. "So we do have to maintain that professionalism, be courteous to them and show empathy for the situations they’re experiencing at that moment.”

Jara is a 12-year veteran of the Emergency Services Department in Edinburg and has spent the last three years working as a supervisor.

Jara had a background in customer service and thought that is what the dispatcher job would mostly entail. He said he quickly realized the vast differences between the two positions.

Although customer service is not the main aspect of the job, it did benefit him for this job.

"We need to maintain our professionalism and we need to be courteous to the callers calling in," Jara said.

Some calls are more emotional than others but the dispatchers cannot let their emotions surface.

"I know they're calling hysterical, already frightened," said Andres Hernandez, Dispatch Supervisor for the Mission Police Department. "Our job is to get the caller to calm down, get as much information from them, that way we can relay it to the officers so everything can go smoothly."

Help is needed at any time of the day, which means dispatchers need to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

On any given day they can deal with the smallest issue or the biggest crisis. No day is ever the same and they always get the chance to help members of the community. Hernandez thinks that's what motivates them to keep doing the work.

Jara said that when people call 9-1-1, his job is to stay on the line until emergency services arrive. Helping callers through the difficult circumstances they are dealing with. After walking them through all the emotions they experience and not having any closure after the call can take a toll.

There are protocols in place to help the dispatchers in the room after dealing with especially difficult calls.

“Usually whenever our guys handle a difficult situation, we tend to pull them off, give them a quick 10-15 minute break," said Jara. "Let them compose themselves so they can kind of detach from it so they can move on to the next call. Because it’s not easy listening to the stuff we listen to on a daily basis.”

The Mission Police Department has similar procedures in place for its staff for the especially difficult calls dispatchers have to take.

Hernandez said that last month when Mission Police Sgt. Adrian Alejandro was shot in the line of duty, he knew he would have to make sure his team was okay.

“I came in. I asked every one of them if they were okay. If they want to step outside for a few minutes, you know, get some fresh air. My guys were good to go," said Hernandez.

After the incident, Mission Police partnered with the Department of Public Safety and held a group session where dispatchers could work through the experience with each other.

Mission Police also contract with outside companies to make sure the emotional needs of the dispatchers are met.

“We have a peer-to-peer network here at the police department," Jara said. "It’s an app that we’re able to get ahold of somebody and speak with an actual person that’s in law enforcement that can relate to our issues and that we’re able to talk to whenever we need to and it’s absolutely free to us.”

Both supervisors said the emergency workers can also rely on each other for support. Hernandez said his team gets together outside of work so they can relax together and build camaraderie.

Veterans in the department can help younger workers process situations they may not have encountered before.

“One of our newer hires will go through a situation that I may have already been through, I may have already felt a lot of the emotions they’ve felt," said Jara. "So it’s very easy for us to be able to connect in situations like that.”