Being a 9-1-1 dispatcher is often a thankless job, but it’s also one of vital importance in the community. We recognize that importance this week as part of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.
Chuck Cleveland is a full-time dispatcher in the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, where he has worked since 1999. As a dispatcher, Cleveland is the first person somebody speaks to when an emergency situation arises in the area, and it is then his job to notify the right services such as police, the fire department or even EMS personnel.
On its face, being a dispatcher may not seem like the busiest job in the world, but that is far from the truth.
“I’ve always been told since I started here that only 2% of the population can do this job. We go through quite a few people… we hire somebody and once they get a 9-1-1 call or know they have to deal with prisoners, they don’t like it because it is too much pressure and they don’t want to do it. So, it is a lot busier than people think it is.”
In a sense, dispatchers are the true first responders in our communities simply because of their place in the emergency system. But, as is part of the job, Cleveland humbly deflects being considered a first responder.
“We just get the information. We try to do our best… we try to get the information that the people tell us, and we then give to the officer, fire, EMS or wherever the call needs to go. We’re the first point of contact more than a first responder.”
First point of contact may be the more proper designation for someone in Cleveland’s position, but for Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright, a dispatcher’s importance is more than that.
“I couldn’t do… we couldn’t do our job we do without the dispatchers. People take it for granted that they are always going to be there, but it is hard to get qualified, good dispatchers to do the job. They’re here 24/7, and it takes at least a couple years to get them trained to do the job as well as they can. So, they’re very important to me and to Guthrie County.”
To learn more about National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, CLICK HERE.