An Insider Look Into The Life Of A 911 Operator

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Ashley Jowell is the Communications Supervisor for the Lufkin Police Department, but for five years, she worked as a 911 operator answering the emergency calls of thousands of people in East Texas.

“You never know what you’re going to get on the other line,” Ashley said as she explained why she loved what she did. “Your adrenaline levels can go from none to high in just a second. I fell in love with it: being able to help people and never knowing what you were going to hear.”

The life of a 911 operator is a stressful one. Working 12 hour shifts either from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. or from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., an operator cannot often take breaks. If it is busy, bathroom breaks are impossible. Lunch breaks often do not happen, so operators typically eat at their desks or get food delivered. Ashley explained that operators are at work more than they are at home, and they can not take their work home with them. So, the only people an operator can vent to are his or her coworkers.

“My coworkers are my brothers and sisters,” Ashley said.

Additionally, no day is the same in the life of an operator, but the calls do usually follow a trend depending on the time of day. Ashley explained that mornings are normally calmer. More reports are called in the mornings than any other time because it is easier to see that a crime has happened in the light of day. Afternoons are a madhouse of calls, and night shift calls are typically in-progress calls that require immediate response.

dispatch2016-webInside the Call Center

Ashley gave a tour of the inside of the call center where 911 operators respond to emergencies. There are desks for four people to answer calls. There are stations dedicated to dispatching police and fire responders specifically, and some phones are color coded according to purpose.

Each desk has 10 monitors surrounding it. The room looks like a TV CIA operations headquarters. One screen is devoted to tracking police cars in Lufkin; one screen is a touchscreen that allows the operator to change the radio frequency being used.

The operators handle emergency, non-emergency, and after hours calls about gas and electricity in the city throughout the day. They also have to dispatch police, EMS, and fire via radio.

What Does It Take to Be a 911 Operator?

Operators need to be supreme multitaskers to keep everything in line during a stressful, possibly life or death situation.

[pullquote]”Training did prepare me,” Ashley said. “But you can’t say ‘Oh! There will be a plane crash tomorrow!'”[/pullquote]

Ashley explained how operators have to go through a state mandated basic dispatcher’s course. Then they participate in 17 weeks of on the job training, and every two years, operators have to take 20 hours of training. Ashley said operators need to be able to multitask and operate calmly under stress to best respond to specific circumstances.

New operators are told to treat callers as if they are family and to give them as much respect as they would a family member.

Operators must keep their composure on the job constantly. Learning to manage emotions is a critical skill operators have to learn that may not come easily. Ashley said it took her a while to get used to the job when she first started. However, even though it is important to avoid taking too much of the job home, an operator sometimes can not help but be changed by the job.

[pullquote]“It’s changed my outlook on life,” Ashley said. “Before I came into the job I had no idea what these men and women did. Life is more precious to me now than it was.”[/pullquote]

I Am 911

Ashley explained that 911 operators are considered secretaries, on a clerical level. Many operators are not happy about this job description, and from their discontent has risen a new movement: #IAm911.

[pullquote]”I heard your last breath as you hanged yourself,” Ashley said.[/pullquote]

Those in the movement want to change the title of a 911 operator from clerical to protective. They wish to be considered part of the emergency responders, Ashley said.

“I might be the last person to talk to someone,” Ashley shared. “I am not a secretary. Secretaries don’t hear that.”

To be a 911 operator requires a certain kind of mettle and determination. Not just anyone is willing to spend 12 hours of their day answering calls of distress and emergency when that time could be spent doing just about anything else.

In the near future, there will be more development on the #IAm911 movement, even around East Texas. Search through Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube with #IAm911 to hear even more about the heroic things 911 operators calmly handle and about the lives they save doing it.

Grace Baldwin
(Bethany) Grace Baldwin has an Associate Degree in Journalism from Angelina College and is working on a double major of English and Journalism at Stephen F. Austin State University. She thoroughly enjoys reading, writing, and has an indelible passion for words.

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