Dispatch Stress

**WARNING: THIS POST WILL NOT HAVE ANY PICTURES**

For the longest time, I feel that I just need to ramble... to just flow my words together, spill my guts, and rock the roll. Rock the roll? Where did that come from?

I see a lot from behind the desk in dispatch. Every call that is taken here is different. And, people react differently to each type of situation. One call that my co-worker might take may affect them emotionally, and it may not phase me. Likewise, there may be a call that I cannot but help get involved in, emotionally, spiritually, sometimes physically, and one of my co-workers will not understand.

Working in dispatch, you get to be that voice behind the phone... the mostly unseen face by the community. We are here to help them, without prejudice. Because its what we do. We don't ask for much... just be polite and understanding on the phone. But sometimes, you just see all the bad in the world... every little stupid, fickle thing that the general public calls for, and it gets to you. You can never just put your finger on one thing, because it is not that at all. It's the whole collection of things. From the beaten wife and kids, to the dog barking, to the "did you just really call to ask if you had to stop for someone in the crosswalk?" It gets to you. And we relieve a lot of that stress through laughter, but you can only laugh so much. To realize that every emergency call that comes in, there is a son or daughter, wife or parent, and sort of relation. These people are that call's life.

It seems that it may be a thankless job, and it sometimes is, but, the best part is when people recognize your job, and they take the time of day to show that they appreciate what you do, whether it be a police officer that stays a few extra minutes beyond their shift to talk, or a quick thank you at the end of a phone call. Whatever it be, it makes your day.

But still, with all that being said, stress is always upon us. And sometimes, you can't do anything right. When it comes to that, I always think of a quote from the show Criminal Minds:

Sometimes there are no words, no clever quotes to neatly sum up what's happened that day. Sometimes you do everything right, and still you feel like you failed.

Lost Time & Remembrance

By golly, I can't believe it's been since Thanksgiving that I last wrote. The time has flown right by... and we'll just skip over winter. Winter is, eh, not very fun. It snows, you shovel, it snows again, shovel some more. It seemed to take FOREVER for winter to slide by. But, it's gone, and we are in the "depths" of spring. Why did I put "depths" in quotes, you may ask. Well, here's why:

Yes, that is a parking lot, and yes, it's underwater. Now, by all means, this wasn't the worst catastrophe. With one of the largest snow-making records ever for the winter, and the wettest spring ever recorded (and it isn't even the end of spring), it caused lots of flooding problems. Fortunately, the flood threat here in the Northeast Kingdom didn't last too long, just a couple of days. No big deal. Except for Lake Champlain. No, the body of water that shelters "Champey" (look it up) has risen to well above record stage, and is to this day, inundating many of the communities that take advantage of the lakeshore. It closed roads, took over homes and fields, and generally all around made a big old mess out of everything. But, you always have to remember that at the end of the day, Mother Nature does create things to make you smile, like double rainbows:

You can almost drive to the pot of gold there!

Another thing that is on my mind, and brought it forward from a blog that I follow: Life, Love and Crazy Situations. This week marks a special week. It is National Emergency Medical Services Week and National Law Enforcement Week. This is the time we take a step back, and appreciate these folks in public safety do for us each and every day. Whether it be to save a life, provide a comforting shoulder, keep our neighborhood safe, or even stop and ask how our day it going, these professionals give up much of their time to give to us. I know, because I've been there. Sometimes, you give up time with your loved ones to help other people. I see it all the time. Police officers that come in on days off to help. EMTs that wake up at 2am to respond to a citizen that needs help, all for no pay. Often times, we do not realize the sacrifices they make, even the ultimate one. So far this year, nine EMS professionals and 72 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. So, please, take a moment and thank these folks for all that they do.

THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED IN HONOR OF ALL THOSE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE PROCESS OF PROTECTING THE LIVES OF OTHERS

Directions

It's interesting, living in the northern reaches of Vermont, the strange directions that you sometimes get. You hear them all the time; the police use them, Fire/EMS use them, the locals use them. Here are a few examples:

• Take a left at the old Cobb Store. (store closed several years ago)
• Take a left at that place that used to have all the greenhouses. (Strange, because everyone knows where that is.)

Then, there is always the places that some local just haphazardly calls something. For instance, I was recently speaking to a 9-1-1 operator that asked the caller where the location of an incident was. He called it Cold Harbor Mountain in Richford. Looking at a map, one cannot find a mountain with such a name. After some coaxing questions, the 9-1-1 operator (who fortunately lived in the area prior) discovered that is was Richford Mountain (which totally makes more sense). There is no harbor anywhere near this mountain, so who knows how the local came up with that name.

Another thing that you sometimes come across in emergency services is getting sent to strange places. One such call, that my co-worker at Cabin Fever spent one afternoon retelling, was definitely a little strange. They were dispatched to an unknown medical at an unknown location. Now, before all you folks start jumping out of your seats, the dispatcher had called the ambulance base directly beforehand, to warn them about such a dubious sounding run. It turned out, through further questioning, that the call was in-town, on a certain road, and the directions to it were: "Go through the narrow bridge, and the road will turn, and there will be a white house right in front of you."

I've also had the pleasure of dispatching some obscure locations. One time, not too long ago, I sent my fire department out on a run for a reported logging accident. Part of the directions given was to "turn left at the big oak tree."

Now, anyone who knows anything about the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, knows that there is a plethora of various types of trees, and they all are usually big. Fortunately, they were canceled enroute to the call, because it turned out that the reported "logging accident" was really barking dogs while rabbit hunting. I can definitely see how those two are mixed up!

Calling 9-1-1

So, working at the Dispatch Center, I get a lot of questions on how we get phone calls, and how we receive 9-1-1 calls, etc. Well, maybe I can help clear this up.

When someone calls 9-1-1, the call is directed to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). There are eight PSAPs in the State of Vermont. They are:

• Derby VSP
• Hartford PD
• Lamoille County SO
• Rockingham VSP
• Rutland VSP
• St Albans PD
• Shelburne PD
• Williston VSP

Below is a map that references the different PSAPs. For a better view, click here.

Depending on where you are calling from, you are initially routed to one of those eight locations. However, if the PSAP that serves your area is tied up (i.e. not available or on a 9-1-1 call), then it is routed to another PSAP. This is all done over a Voice Over IP (VoIP) network.

When you are connected to a 9-1-1 operator, they gather your information, and determine who is needed to respond (i.e. police, fire department, ambulance, etc). Once they have gathered the important information, they then route the call to the appropriate resource's dispatch. This acts as a 3-way call, where the 9-1-1 operator gives the information to the dispatcher while the initial caller is still on the line, so that the dispatcher can ask follow-up questions. Then, the dispatcher disconnects and dispatches the resource. Depending on the situation, the 9-1-1 operator may stay on the line with you.

This whole process can take from 3-5 minutes. So, let's run through an example:

• 1602 hours: Initial call from St Johnsbury is placed to 9-1-1 for a medical emergency. It is routed to Derby PSAP. The 9-1-1 operator picks up the line and starts gathering information.

• 1604 hours: The 9-1-1 operator calls St Johnsbury Emergency Dispatch and places the request for an ambulance. The information is relayed to the dispatcher, who them asks a few follow-up questions. The dispatcher then hangs up.

• 1606 hours: The ambulance is toned to the call.

• 1607 hours: The ambulance signs on as responding.

So, as you can see, this process lasted five minutes, from the time of call to the ambulance en-route.

There is a wealth of information on the Vermont E-911 website: http://e911.vermont.gov/

Now, some people may point out that it is easier to just call the dispatcher directly, and shave off a few minutes. I would like to point out that most often, the dispatcher is NOT an Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD). Also, there are times that you believe you are calling the right center, but in fact, a different dispatch center sends the ambulance to your location. Also, the 9-1-1 system has the ability to see on a map, where you are, so if you don't know what your address is, the dispatcher will have no idea where to send assistance. Sometimes, yes, it may seem easier to call the dispatch center directly, but there will be instances where it is VERY advantageous to call 9-1-1.

So, remember, in an EMERGENCY, call 9-1-1!

Spare Time

It has suddenly occurred to me (at the prompting of the Cabin Fever author), that I haven't written in a little while. Well, in dreaming up of possible topics that wouldn't bore you to death, I struck upon one that might be curious to some people.

Quite often, when going about on calls, an inevitable statement is, "I really hate to bother you guys." And most invariably, our reply is: "It's no problem, it's what we are here for." Well, also quite often, we ARE in the middle of something. But, many may ask, "What WERE you doing?" Well, here is a glimpse into the life of EMS.

At the station that I work out of, the shift begins at 8:00. This could be either AM or PM. I will make this on a Saturday. So, after talking with the outgoing crew about the previous shift's happenings, swapping a few jokes or insults, we start going about the day's duties. First order of business is a vehicle check.

Now, a vehicle check is a comprehensive check-list, going over every detail. This is important, because we wouldn't want to be rolling up on the scene of a motor vehicle accident without any backboards or straps, now would we? Generally, (depending on how effective you are) this takes between 30 minutes to an hour. This goes through every detail (expiration dates, quantity of appropriate items, fuel, lights, paperwork, etc). After this, you can sometimes work on a small project that you have been working on, or even catch a small nap (especially if you are on a 24-hour shift).

There are some things to do. Crews generally change it up a bit, sometimes cooking a good breakfast, detailing the ambulances, cleaning the bays, beautification projects, you get the idea. One such favorite past time too, is playing a video game with off-duty crew members. One of my personal favorites is the Nintendo Wii.

Now, of course we aren't playing this when there is other work to be done. However, it is an excellent source of groans, laughs, forehead-slapping and all around fun. There is the invariable favorites, Wii Sports, Mario Kart, and one crew member's favorite, Firefighter.

After the fun, there is always the clean-up. Generally, this is before shift change. This includes: sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming, general pick-up, dishes, etc. Essentially, clean the entire building top to bottom.

Now, it seems that all the time, something is getting interrupted for a call. Usually, it is a pleasant change of pace, and of course, it IS our job. To go out and help people is the reason why we do Emergency Medical Services. It usually is worth the cold meals, forgotten games, and missed socializing. 

So, now you know. 

Dispatch Center

So, I just found out the other day that I now got hired on full-time by St Johnsbury Emergency Dispatch! I've been working there part-time for about three years now, and an opening came up that allowed me to get a consistent 40 hours per week. This is another step for me, on my way to accomplishing my goals.

Now, in St Johnsbury, we have a fairly small dispatching center. In fact, it only has two consoles. Here is a picture of the main dispatching desk:

As you can see, there is a lot, squished into a tiny space. Now, let's compare that, with our "back-up" dispatching room, located in Lyndonville.

Notice that is seems much cleaner, and slightly more space than our St Johnsbury center. There has been some discussion on remodeling the current room, or even creating a new Public Safety building. However, the way the economy is, that isn't about to happen in the immediate future.

St Johnsbury Dispatch services over a dozen fire departments, a couple ambulance squads, and also a few first response agencies, coupled with a local police department.

Here is an idea for the agencies:

And this is what the console actually looks like, for radio channels:

Most Fire/EMS lives in northern Caledonia county and parts of Essex county revolves their lives around those buttons. And it's always that one or two people on duty that makes that happen. I'm proud to be able to provide such a service to these people!

Working Together

One thing that I have always respected in the emergency services, is the fact that they are willing to work together. Whether it be between fire departments, or between EMS and the fire service, there is always a sort of comradeship between them. Take for instance, the video below:





This video shows multiple departments, multiple disciplines, working together in order to rectify a dangerous situation. It is quite unlike the scene in the movie Gangs of New York, where the firemen fight amongst each other to lay claim on the blaze.

This "working together" is extremely true, especially in the northern reaches of Vermont. Quite often, the fire departments are made up of only a few individuals, and so they rely heavily on mutual aid. Because mutual aid is used so much, organizations have been created, to help defray costs of training and to ensure that the best protection is offered to its citizens, without added costs. Some of these organizations even cross borders, both state and international!

Another wonderful thing about the Fire and EMS service (and other services also), is that in a real disaster, they are willing to pitch in, and go the extra mile to help each other, and their fellow neighbors out. When Hurricane Ike struck, there were hundreds of ambulances, ready and waiting (some even from Vermont). With this comradeship, I'm proud to be a Firefighter/EMT!

courtesy of The Caledonian Record.