Answering 240 million emergency calls each year, the nation’s dispatch centers are caught in a never-ending cycle of pressures.
COTTONWOOD, Ariz.—Kelsey Jacobs answers each call not knowing who will be on the line or what crisis awaits.
It could be someone having a heart attack, a suicidal person, a vehicle rollover, a drug overdose, or just an accidental call.
A 911 dispatcher at the Cottonwood Regional Communications Center in Cottonwood, Arizona, Jacobs, 31, said that the job is naturally stressful and that for dispatchers who struggle to cope, burnout is “a huge factor.”
“What keeps me here is the job and being able to help people and make a difference,” Jacobs told The Epoch Times.
Other dispatchers and experts agree that burnout is a major challenge for 911 call handlers. This echoes the findings of a recent nationwide survey by emergency communication provider Carbyne and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), a nonprofit focused on 911 operations.
Burnout leads to staff absences and people quitting, which then leads to understaffing, overtime, and more burnout.
For dispatch units, the relentless churn of staff is a crisis they cannot afford. Training spans six to 11 months. Yet there is no break from the flood of 240 million emergency calls each year while units grapple with chronic understaffing, according to NENA.
Inside the Cottonwood center, 20 dispatchers work around the clock in rotating teams of six. They sit at consoles, each of which has several computer monitors.
“We are the linchpin, the catalyst for everything else,” Alexis James, who manages the Cottonwood Public Safety Regional Communications Center, told The Epoch Times.
“People don’t understand the full scope of what we do,” James said.
The team has three communications supervisors and four lead dispatchers and trainers. Every communications specialist is certified as an emergency medical dispatcher by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED), a Utah-based organization that sets standards for emergency dispatch and response services worldwide.
At the Cottonwood facility, each dispatcher completes at least six months of job training and 40 hours of classes on public safety communication to handle any emergency.
Their shifts pass quickly or slowly, depending on call volume and type: a missing pet, a power outage, a medical crisis, or a natural disaster that requires quick decision-making.
Jacobs has worked at the Cottonwood facility since 2016, inspired by the challenge of the job, the promise of good benefits, and the chance to serve her community.
Self-care is critical, she said.
“I try to teach my trainees, as soon as they get in, you’ve got to find an avenue,” Jacobs said. “We have different programs. If you need help, if you need to talk to us, we’re here. Find an outlet to relieve that stress.”
Jacobs, who is a new mother, appreciates having a private child care room close to the dispatch consoles as part of the center’s wellness program.
The workplace also offers a quiet room where dispatchers can relax after a long shift, as well as access to a gym, kitchen facilities, and a recreation center with a swimming pool.
“I think some agencies can lead people down the [path to] burnout,” Jacobs said. “They don’t look at their people as a whole. They look at it as if we’ve got to fill shifts.”
She credits her center’s good retention with good staff care.
“Our leaders truly care about us as people,” she said.
By Allan Stein
