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Browsing Tag: #thingoldline
Holidays, full moon, too much alcohol. What do these things have in common? All make for a busy night at 911 dispatch. So it was no surprise to me that I have two friends from that past life who made a little Facebook post about it. One relived a traumatizing suicide call and the other just cautioned us to be careful this weekend. I look for more posts from other former coworkers soon. You know, a ripple effect as we all think about our own experiences behind the headset. Holidays always bring out the crazy in people, and the call volume is definitely up. And therefore, the memories. Of course I have my own demons, and ghosts of calls that rattle in my head from time to time. If you could hear the screaming, you would understand why I’ll never swing my leg over another motorcycle. If you could hear the incessant ringing, you’d know why I exercise extreme caution at the Pleasant Hill and Chapman Highway intersection. And if you could hear the gasping sobs, you’d know why I am so adamantly against narcotics. You see, when you do something stupid, and you pay for it with your life, it doesn’t just affect you. That’s a very selfish thought. Of course it affects your family, your friends, the people you work with. But it also affects the paramedics who work your body, the police who have the grueling task of interviewing witnesses, the firefighters…
It is National Disptacher Appreciation week. I didn’t even know there was such a thing, but some of you may see where I occasionally like a post on Diary of A Mad Dispatcher’s page & that’s where I heard about it. Anyhoo, in light of Boston Massachusetts, & West Texas, these unseen people are on my mind a lot. I was a dispatcher for about a year & a half & I can count on one hand all the times I was publicly thanked or appreciated. I didn’t ever expect recognition, but when it came, it warmed my heart, just like it does any one of you in your life for a job well done. So, anyway, my point is, you’re seeing a lot of appreciation for the firemen & policemen & they DO deserve every bit of it, but don’t forget the dispatchers. They are keeping up with several agencies at one time, consisting of several hundred men & women. This is in addition to the regular calls that are coming in for car wrecks, accidental cell phones, heart attacks, what have you. If you’ve ever had to make that call, you know how calm that voice is. You plead with them to get help there quickly. You beg them to tell you what to do for the person in distress. And when the…
Thankful for our military & emergency services, including the doctors & nurses in our land. There’s plenty of talk about retailers being open on Thanksgiving & the mess that’s known far & wide as Black Friday…but think about all the people that have absolutely no choice but to work, whether it be trooping across the desert hauling a weapon, hunting evil, or patroling for drunk drivers in their police car (or perhaps just rousting them from their family’s living room), or the EMS & fire that respond to someone who had just too much everything & stroke out over the pumpkin pie. And not to forget the dispatchers that send them, your front line of help. Thank you to the civil servants of America. What would we do without you? You don’t think about these people until you need them, then they are worth more than all the riches of England. I’m thankful there are people who love to heal & protect others. I can barely put a bandaid on Shug…
