MONTAGUE — While police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel are the faces of public safety, what about the voices behind the phone directing first responders to the scene?
“It’s an unrecognized public safety position,” said Montague Dispatch Manager Marsha Odle, “because we aren’t the ones responding with the sirens.”
Each year, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is observed during the second week of April to give thanks and recognition to the folks working on the other side of the phone when we call 911. The tradition was started in 1981 by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in California and eventually grew to the national level in 1994 when President Bill Clinton signed Presidential Proclamation 6667, which officially designated the observance. This year, dispatchers, radio operators and other telecommunicators were celebrated from April 10 to 16 for their work in keeping the public safe.
When people think of dispatchers, they think of the people who direct police officers and other first responders to the scene of an emergency before moving on to the next call, but the job is much more than just waiting for the phone to ring, according to Odle, who has spent nearly 17 years with the Montague Police Department.
“It’s definitely not a clerical position,” Odle said after naming a laundry list of responsibilities that include maintaining a dispatch log; monitoring emergency frequencies for other towns; conducting background checks on arrests; and logging scores of data entries for parking tickets, missing persons, restraining orders and other records. “It’s always been an issue. … Dispatchers are always thrown into the clerical aspect.”
“They don’t just answer a phone,” she continued. “They’re saving lives just a much as those on the scene.”
Montague Police Chief Christopher Williams said the role of his department’s dispatchers is “huge” and sometimes their importance may get lost in the chaos of police, fire and EMS responding.
“They’re the first ones that everyone’s really talking to in an emergency situation. … You really need a pretty level-headed person working in the position,” Williams noted. “People who don’t call 911 or don’t really use the services may underappreciate how valuable they are.”
Montague’s Dispatch Center’s call flow varies from year to year, with both Williams and Odle saying the department received approximately 15,000 calls for service and about 2,100 emergency calls in 2021. The majority of calls, they both added, come during the busiest shift from 3 to 11 p.m.
Becoming a dispatcher requires arduous training, according to Odle, as candidates must take a 40-hour telecommunicator class through the state, pass a Next Generation 911 certification course to show they can use the software and also learn about the Montague department’s own specific responsibilities. Training can take anywhere from three to six months, “depending on the person.” Preferred traits in a dispatcher, Odle added, include being able to “prioritize tasks and stress” and being able to quickly and clearly communicate with first responders, while also talking to whoever is calling 911.
“The in-house training is really important because every dispatch center is different,” Odle said. “You’ve got to learn everything that’s going on in your department.”
The most important responsibility for dispatchers, Odle said, is building rapport with the officers and other first responders they coordinate services with.
“You’ve got to build trust — that’s a huge part of this job. To develop that relationship with them is to earn each other’s trust on both ends,” Odle said. “We need to be able to trust our guys on the street. … It’s hard not being able to see what they see. And they depend on us for everything we can get them.”
That trust, Williams said, is huge for his officers, so much so that he appealed to Montague voters at last year’s Special Town Meeting to raise dispatchers’ pay to keep the dispatch center staffed.
“The working relationship is key, so that when they’re communicating with each other they know what to expect,” Williams said. “I definitely don’t underestimate them and I do appreciate them because they’re the first line. … Most often, they’ll take the brunt of everybody’s anger when they’re calling.”
Montague’s Dispatch Center covers Montague’s five villages. Greenfield also has its own dispatch center and Shelburne Control, operated by the State Police, covers the entire county. Shelburne Control received nearly 87,000 calls for emergency and non-emergency services over the course of 2021, including a call from someone in New South Wales, Australia who was concerned about the well-being of an online friend who was believed to live in Ashfield. Dispatchers found an address in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, which they relayed to Interpol authorities, who were able to successfully get the person help, according to a Facebook post from the State Police.
Odle said dispatchers are often “underappreciated” by the public because they aren’t visible, but their work is essential and is recognized by partnering departments.
“Our guys here give us credit. They’re amazing,” Odle said. “It’s a family here.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.