BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Dispatchers are usually the first ones to respond when emergencies strike, picking up the phone and speaking to people facing possible crises. During National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which runs until April 20, they are being celebrated.
"We are the first, first responder," said Susan Porter, Deputy Director for Blount County 911.
"At the end of the day, you wake up knowing you get to help people. And that's a very rewarding feeling, at least to me," said Austin Burchell, a public safety telecommunicator for Blount County 911.
Dispatchers at the Blount County 911 Center said the job brings a sense of fulfillment they can't get anywhere else. However, it also brings its fair share of stress. Often, dispatchers are tasked with giving callers life-saving advice over the phone.
"It's not physically taxing, but it is mentally taxing. You're gonna go home at the end of the day tired, like you ran a marathon because you're just using your brain all day," said Burchell.
Calls can also take their toll emotionally, throwing dispatchers into situations of life and death.
"I recall, one was a child that was choking. That, our operator was able to, you know, instruct them how to help free the object," said Porter.
The family involved in that call later visited the Blount County 911 Center.
"They came in an met the dispatcher. It's very rewarding to them to know, you know, someone following up and actually thanking them for the work that they did," said Porter.
She said that the work dispatchers do will never end, and they will always be there to answer the call — just to be there for their community.
"We don't really do it for that reason, to get any kind of pat on the back. It is nice to be recognized and to be appreciated," said Porter. "I think the whole reason is, we're here to help people and when you need to call 911, we're here for you."