Why 911 Dispatchers Deserve First Responder Status

Our own people who rely on us in the most critical of moments, believing we are not first responders, adds yet another weight onto our already overloaded shoulders

By Shannon Polito, ENP RPL

What is a true first responder? Many would say it only encompasses exactly what is in the phrase “first responder.” Someone who shows up first on scene to an emergency. This is a very narrow definition and one that has kept dispatchers from being recognized as true first responders not only federally, but at state levels and sometimes even within their own agencies. 

What exactly does a first responder do that would leave the 911 dispatcher out of the definition? They are the first on scene to an emergency. They must help sort through the chaos to determine what steps are required to mitigate loss of life, limb, and the safety of those not only already on scene, but those still yet to arrive. They coordinate resources, dictate the next steps for further risk management, and they reach out to outside resources necessary to contain, clean, dismantle, rectify or wreck what is happening on scene. Seems as though that would round out the definition of a first responder well, yes? 

Absolutely every one of those actions listed is done by a 911 dispatcher, but without the ability to see what’s happening as the scenario unfolds. The 911 dispatcher works behind the scenes to not only create the initial call, but to also work to allay the chaos of the situation, navigate the nuances of the call to mitigate the further loss of life and limb, provide possible life-saving instructions at the highest level, and ensure scene safety/control at the ground level. They are the ones who coordinate the outside resources that are needed. They are the ones from behind the headset that direct those on scene to be the safest they can possibly be and navigate those still to arrive. 

The Overlooked First Responders

911 dispatchers are responsible for every single outside resource needed making it to the scene. Nothing simply just happens because there are people on the actual scene of the emergency. It happens because the dispatcher does their often-overlooked job and makes it happen. 

“Emergency operators and dispatchers are undoubtedly the first responders of first responders, serving at the center of emergency events, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, (365 days per year). These essential workers exercise quick-thinking, counseling, and guidance that frequently makes the critical difference between life and death before help arrives,” said Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees union president Daniel Levler.

Not Just Answering Calls

Yet, we are often classified as clerical or secretarial workers because there is often paperwork or “clerical” duties that we also must do amid organizing the chaos. We are also required to maintain meticulous standards in entering, interpreting and updating our database records. These are the records that may determine if someone does or does not go to jail on a warrant, on a parole or probation violation, on a restraining order violation, their sexual offender registration status, their driver’s license status, and the list goes on. 

We are not only required to be completely accurate while processing all of this information, but we also have time limits set by the DOJ that require us to confirm those items are still current for other agencies when they reach out for information. All while entering in new items, updating, editing and removing old items and still making sure every phone call is answered, and a timely response is sent out. 

This doesn’t even speak to those who work in such small or understaffed agencies. They must maintain their help window where members of the public come to have certain items taken care of or reports taken. They are solely responsible for not only answering the phones but also all radio traffic that comes in through their headset simultaneously, with the same meticulous standards put upon them that larger, more fully staffed agencies are expected to meet. 

The Demands of the Job

The 911 dispatchers, like their field responders, are required to work 24/7 365 days a year, which is not the case for other clerical or secretarial workers, as they typically work normal business hours during the weekdays and get their evenings, weekends and holidays off. 911 dispatchers work 10-16-hour shifts, depending on staffing, and can work as many as 45 days in a row without a single day off due to short staffing. 

Unlike many of their field responders who can work a shift with one less person on patrol or even sometimes with one less fire rig or ambulance in service, there must always be someone in the dispatcher’s seat taking calls and working the radio. There’s no “just making it work” without someone in the dispatch center to do that. 

The long-standing staffing issues for dispatchers add to the burnout, trauma and stress injuries of those who work in this profession. In fact, unlike any other clerical or secretarial workers, 911 dispatchers have PTSD and cumulative PTSD rates equal to or higher than their police and fire counterparts. This is due to the stacking effect of the long hours, shift work, the weight of what is carried by doing this job, and maintaining high standards despite staffing and burnout issues. None of that is taking into consideration the toll the calls themselves take on those who answer them. 

The Toll of the Job

As mentioned in a previous article, the toll of “just hearing” calls negatively impacts 911 dispatchers greater than that experienced visually or tactilely by those in the field. Oftentimes, we receive the calls in their highest instance of pain, chaos, panic, fear, grief and intensity. We only get the beginning and middle of calls, and are therefore missing the end piece for our brains to complete the trauma loop. None of which is experienced by clerical or secretarial workers. “When Americans are experiencing the worst, most life-threatening moments of their lives, 911 dispatchers answer the call – they are true first responders,” said Congresswoman Norma Torres.

Ricardo Martinez, former 911 dispatcher, started the #Iam911 movement more than a decade ago to show the world that 911 dispatchers are not simply call takers, clerical or secretarial workers. He enlisted the help of dispatchers everywhere to share their stories of calls they had taken or things they had experienced on the radio. He received so much feedback that he turned it into two books, and this became an entire movement within the dispatching community. 

Martinez has granted permission to share these stories to further the mission of helping those who do not do the job, more fully understand the job. This is only a sampling of the thousands of submissions. More can be found at Within The Trenches, and in the books, Imagine Listening Vols. I and II. 

Calls to 911 Leave Their Mark

“I listened to you scream for 20 minutes while you held your dead husband in your arms after he shot himself in the head.” 

“You called for help because your husband woke you up by making funny noises and needed help. I talked you through CPR … I heard your husband’s ‘death breath’ escape as you became too exhausted to continue the CPR rhythm and then hit your fists on his chest before screaming and begging for him to wake up because you married him at 16 and didn’t know how to live without him. Nearly four years later, and I still randomly wake up in a panic because I dream about your screams as you bargain for the life of your loved one.”

“I kept calm and sent help while officers listened to the shots whizzing past them and hitting things next to them. I kept calling your call sign, waiting for you to respond, knowing in my heart you would never answer my radio call again.”

“I helped you hide from your dad when he told you to run, or he would kill you, too. Moments later, we heard the shots that took your mother and father from you. Your voice and those shots forever echo in my head.”

“I tried to decipher your emergency through the screaming and crying. Your neighbor was able to tell me you found your husband hanging in your garage. I’ll never forget your cries and despair.”

“I handled the fire that took your life. I will never forget your mayday radio calls, not ever.”

“I was the last voice you ever heard as your family’s home went up in flames. Your screams are forever in my memory.”

The Fight for Recognition

Many people do not fully understand what it is that 911 dispatchers do in their dark control rooms and therefore would struggle to place dispatchers into the first-responder category without further education; it is the lack of belief and acceptance by their own agencies and field responders that is the deepest betrayal felt by those in the job. 

Those who know what 911 dispatchers do on a day-to-day basis because they rely on their dispatchers to give them all-important information for every call; they are the ones relying on their dispatchers to get them the help they need when they scream for a code 3 fill, they are the ones relying on their dispatchers to get them accurate information all locations, subject and vehicle returns, they are the ones relying on their dispatchers to make sure the scene they are responding to is safe to enter in order to provide life-saving actions. 

And yet, they are the ones who argue that dispatchers are just call takers and all that is done is answering phones and doing whatever they ask us to do. 911 dispatchers are made of hardy stock, they couldn’t do the job otherwise. We can slough off the public’s ignorance regarding the importance of our jobs, but this addition of our own people who rely on us in the most critical of moments, believing we are not first responders, adds yet another weight onto our already overloaded shoulders. 

We’re in This Together

It is imperative to understand that 911 dispatchers are not fighting for this designation because there is a desire to take away from what our field responders are doing and the power of what they do. Rather, it is a battle cry that we are in the trenches fighting with you, and while we cannot do it alone, neither can you while out in the field. 

We want to fight alongside our fellow first responders, and receive the same type of physical, emotional, mental and organizational support that our field responders do. Our hearts, minds and bodies are injured on the job, and as proven in research, sometimes at higher rates than those in the field. 

We fight that we are validated for everything we do, how it affects us, and the type of help we should get access to. Let’s fight together to recognize our collective value to each other. Let’s use that validation to offer the community and connection that we need from each other to make it through this harrowing, life-changing, heart-wrenching calling that we all feel the drive to continue to do despite its challenges. 

Want to join the fight to make 911 dispatchers recognized as first responders? Go to the websites for the National Emergency Numbers Association (NENA) or the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and find out how to join the fray.