felicityfrankland

The speaker discusses their career as a dispatcher for a sheriff's office. They explain how they got into dispatching and the agencies they work for. They mention the different departments they dispatch for, such as police, fire, and EMS. They also talk about the population they serve and the challenges they face, including a growing population and congestion in the area. They mention the shortage of dispatchers and the impact it has on their workload. Overall, they have been in the field for 18 years and are looking forward to retirement after 20 years of service. All right, y'all ready? Yes, ma'am. I'm ready. All right. All right. Let's start with the basics. How did you get into dispatching? Was it something you always wanted to do or did you sort of stumble into it? And I think you also mentioned that you work for like a sheriff's office as opposed to a police department, that kind of thing. You could explain, like, do you guys answer 911 calls and dispatch for police, fire, and EMS? We do. At my current agency, I dispatch for 30 municipalities in addition to, that's including our sheriff's office and the troopers and Parks and Wildlife and Gay Mortons and TABC and school ISDs and the smaller cities in our county that just aren't big enough to need, they're kind of like a one-man town type situation. And they range between one officer account to, you know, three or four on any given time. But I started, I'm originally from Colorado, so I'm not even really from Texas. Nobody kill me on that one. But I transplanted here after college because I had worked at a residential lockdown treatment facility in Colorado and they had closed down. And so I just didn't really know what I wanted to do. And so I had explored working and going to the police academy in Colorado. And at the time, they weren't really hiring, but you could, like, take the test and get on a wait list or whatever. And then a woman that was in my parents' church, she was a dispatcher. And so I went and sat with her one night and I was like, this is very overwhelming. I feel like I would do better being a cop. Okay, I'm out of here. So then in 2005, I was like, I need a break from what is hometown and kind of get out on my own. So I drove to Texas and we had some family friends here. And I was like, well, I'll just hang out for a while and see what happens. But my dad was always like, get on out of city. They always need people. And you're guaranteed hours and you won't get laid off because you need people. I'm like, okay, dad. So I applied anywhere and everywhere. And I mean, city secretaries and admin and parks and rec. And I was like, well, I'll just put in for some detention officer because I had worked at the treatment facility and just fell into a city of about 100,000. And so they hired me originally for both positions for jail and for dispatch. And then they're like, well, which one would you rather have? And I was like, I think dispatch. And they're like, oh, well, we're too full. So you can go to the jail. And I'm like, okay, that's fine. I didn't care. I just needed a job. And so I started there. And then about four months in, they're like, somebody didn't make that at training. Do you want to go to dispatch? Sure. Why not? So I worked there for six and a half years before I was offered a position to be a trainer at a one dispatcher facility or agency. And I was like, okay, that sounds like a brilliant, fun time. I don't know what I was thinking because that was super boring after being busy all the time. And I think I was kind of like bordering burnout and just needed a break. And so I went there for a little over a year and a half and was so bored. And when the highlight of the night is your garage door is open, ma'am. You didn't shut your garage door. I was like, this is not real dispatch. I'm not enjoying this. So I just took a year off because I thought maybe I just don't want to do it anymore. And that was probably almost eight years in. And I was really kind of out of it. And so I took about a year off. And then a captain at our sheriff's office at the time was like, do you want to come back and work? And I'm like, not really. He's like, please, please. So I did, and I've been there for the last 10 years. So that's how many years total. Yeah, 18 years total. That's an amazing career already. And still going strong. That's awesome. I'm on the downhill slide. So actually, this is funny off topic, but my husband was actually just down there for a conference and got to chatting with some people and then saw a job listed, a chief job down there, and was like, hey, what's the retirement like? And they said that it's really good, for firemen anyway. So what about for you? What's the? Yeah, we, I mean, we have to be licensed by the state in order to do our job. And so we jump right in with the rest, the Texas. Yep. I can't see it. But it's a two-to-one, and for the county and most of the cities are two-to-one. And then we also get in on the responders and city municipality retirement. So, yeah, you have definitely the opportunity to set yourself up for greatness for sure. Yeah. And is it 20 years, regardless of age? Mm-hmm. Yeah. So that's a big deal. 20 years of service. So I'm just like, can I just get to the 20 years part? Right. You're almost there. I know. I'll be almost 47 when that happens. So that's pretty good. Yeah. That's awesome. It's really not bad. Not at all. Cool. So for those who might not be familiar with that area, can you describe a typical shift for a dispatcher in your workflow? Yeah. We answer emergency and non-emergencies for the entire county and all the agencies we work for. During the day, like eight to five, those cities have, like, you know, an admin secretary records person. So they'll answer, like, not so much their non-emergency, but just their administrative lines and answer those. But they advertise everything, and if you need police, fire, EMS, or anything like that to call the county. So they all, you know, we answer for them. And then at night, all their phones get forwarded to us, so records and warrants and all that stuff that they're looking for, it just comes to us. So we answer all of them. And then we dispatch for 13 fire departments with a total of 19 stations. And then on top of, we have three patrol channels that our county is kind of divided kind of at a north-south angle, kind of diagonal angle. And so the east side will be on one channel, and the west side will be on another channel. And then we have a patrol channel that's just for our state and county agencies. So they're all one channel also, so. Yeah. So we have right now, we would really love it if our staffing was up, but as everybody else in America, everybody's hurting for dispatchers. We average generally, when we had a lot of people, we would have seven people on duty at a time. Right now, we're running with about five, sometimes four. And so... Sounds familiar. Yeah. We're really feeling it right now, for sure. Like, we're exhausted, but I mean, we're making it work. Yeah. And you said the population is like around 100,000? So just, no, we probably, oh gosh, probably our county and all the municipalities probably operate really close to a million, I would probably say. Okay. Yeah. I would say when you put them all together, maybe not that. Maybe it's, I wouldn't, like the city, the two big cities that are in our county, they have their own dispatch, so they don't really count. But all the rest of them put together, maybe it's closer to a half a million, maybe, with all the rural areas. But from this, everybody's moving into our county, so there's not much rural area left. Yep. So in the Dallas-Fort Worth, it's such a large and diverse area, with everything from busy highways to major events happening all the time. Does the location create unique challenges for dispatch? If so, what are some of the big ones that you face regularly? Well, our growth right now, like it's just, you know, Dallas itself is congested, and then you just start growing, and it's congested, and you start growing. And so now we're kind of out here, and there's just not a lot of space. And so, you know, the prices of everything goes up, and, but we have major thoroughfares that take us straight into Oklahoma and straight down into Houston. And so I think it's just travel and congestion probably would be our biggest, and just not having – we have space, but it's not space. Everybody wants to bring it really close. There's rural, big country farms that are just disappearing, and they're being taken over with housing developments of lots of houses and people moving here, and taking up that space that just makes the population bigger. And we're definitely not – all those cities are definitely not on the same page to grow as fast as we need them to. All right. So everything else is growing except dispatch. Dispatch, and the police department. And probably the fire department, right, public safety in general, because they're always the last. Yeah, and it's just, you know, it's everything that everybody struggles with is just getting people hired and people that want to do this job, and, you know, it's just not always appealing when everything is an emergency or negative. Right. Yeah. And I can tell you, it's been 20 years since I've driven around that area, but for our Virginia people, y'all think the mixing bowl is bad? Look, GSW is like four of those in a thing, and it's just – it's a hot mess. And that was 20 years ago, so I can't even imagine now what – My family lived here in the 80s, and so I can remember being like 8, 9 years old and living here, and people would make reference to the high five, and that was like one high five. And now there's 50 high fives. Oh, my God. And it's the exchange of highways that they just keep building on top of each other to stop people from having track blights so everybody can just keep moving and there's no congestion. And so it's funny to me because, you know, our county has a high five, and it's, you know, it's a giant overpass of the mixing of, like, three major thoroughfare highway tollway areas. Yeah. And, you know, you go down into Dallas County, and they have multiple high fives, and Fort Worth has multiple high fives, and Arlington. It's just – it's absolute chaos. Like, there's just people everywhere. Well, I would not like that, because we just dropped my daughter and her boyfriend off in Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday, because they left for a cruise. And when I tell y'all that our asses got fucking lost just coming out of the port, and I was so stressed. We ended up in Washington, D.C. Then I think we were back in Maryland, and then we hit Virginia. And I'm like, oh, my God. We didn't get home till, like, 6.30 at night, and we had left, like, before 10 o'clock Sunday morning. So I – and, look, I live under a rock, so my ass does not travel, and that was stressful. So I cannot even imagine what traveling must be like. I'm with Anna for Baltimore being its own chaos. Like, it's a whole different ball game there. It was terrible. I mean, getting there was fine. We did great. But then I thought, oh, well, I don't want to spend three and a half, four hours going back, not taking highways and stuff, because that's what it had said. So I flipped the GPS to, you know, now we're not going to avoid highways. Yeah, well, that – fuck, shut up. Real quick. I mean, we ended up going downtown. I'm assuming still in Maryland, but we saw prostitutes and crackheads, and I mean, I'm just like, oh, my God. Can we get out of here? Can we get out of here? Yes, right? Dude, I just want to be home. Is that where we – And we have to do it again Sunday, so can't wait. Is that where the convention center is for soliciting? Hold on a minute. How much did I just solicit off? That's okay. Is that where the – is South Dallas where the convention center is? Sure. And I say that just because there's so many convention centers there. But are you talking about, like, American Airlines down in the giant white building convention center? I don't know. I just thought it was called Dallas Convention Center. But, yes, it's close to downtown. That would be South Dallas for sure. That's where my husband was, and he was like, oh, this is no good. Yeah, and that is right there at an interchange of, like, four major highways and where all the happenings are for, like, you know, the Mavs play and all the concerts and WFAA, which is our local television station, is down there in the aquarium. And downtown itself is all down there. So, yeah. But apparently the convention – like, you have to go, like, a few blocks, like, away from the convention center to get to, like, okay areas to wander around. Yes. Yeah. There's a statement made that if you get down to South Dallas, don't stop at the stop signs. Like, do the rolling stop because somebody will try to come get in the car with you, and you don't want that. So I can remember when I first moved here, I had friends that lived on the other side of South Dallas in one of the little towns, and they were like, when you come through, don't stop. Just keep going. I'm like, what? Is that a thing? And they're like, yeah, just roll. Like, don't just stop. Like, but please keep going. And I'm like, okay. Yeah. My ex-husband said that, too. And that's, like, that's why I was – he was from there, and so he was in the Army, and we drove cross-country from Arizona and came through there. And, like, that was – yeah. He was like that, too. And then when Matt was down there, he was like, oh, my God, what have they put us into? And I was like, I don't know. I guess it hasn't gotten any better. No, unfortunately not. Interesting. And, yeah, and to Casey's point about Baltimore, so funny story. My mom worked for – she was a regional training director for a real estate company, and they always had these big, like, regional training meetings, and they would usually be in Tyson's Corner, Virginia. But one of her good friends was from the Baltimore office, and she lived in Baltimore. Or maybe she lived right outside Baltimore, but she worked in Baltimore anyway. And I would get lost. My grandparents, all of them lived in Pennsylvania. And inevitably, I would get lost coming back. Like, if I didn't stay on 95 or if I missed the exit because I was whatevering, you know, and this was before Siri. And so I got to the point where I would just, like, call Joan and be like, okay, I'm next to this. Like, I've driven into downtown Baltimore again, and here I am. How do I get out? Because once you get in, if you come in off the highway from the north side, you cannot turn around and go back out the same way. Yeah. So, yeah. So I agree, Casey. That's a different beast there. Yeah. I ended up in some tunnel that was underwater, and I thought that was only in Virginia Beach. Had no clue we had that shit down there. And then I'm seeing a sign for New York. I'm like, oh, my God. Where the shit are we going? It was funny. It was not hilarious. Oh, my God. But anyway. But anyway. All right. So, Felicity, when you're dealing with emergency situations, staying calm is crucial. Do you have any techniques or tips that you use to keep yourself grounded and focused during high-stress calls? That's a good – that's a great question. In fact, we were just having – I just had this conversation with one of my coworkers the other day, because she's very new at this. But I was telling her, you know, people are calling you to solve the problem. Like, and while you may not realize that, you know, burning off your electricity or knowing who you call – you know, pay your electric bill through is not an emergency, because then it is. Like, that's why they're calling you, is they can't solve anything else themselves. Like, they have literally gotten to the place in their situation where they're like, I cannot rationalize this. And so you can't get excited because they're excited. And, you know, obviously, they always tell you, like, just talk softer. Like, sometimes that doesn't work. But I think, for me, is that I just try to understand and think ahead of the game and kind of anticipate, like, what is happening, but what they're going to need. And sometimes you have to think for them, because opening the door or unlocking it is not in their forethought. And so you have to just think, why is this happening to me? Why can't I open the door? Did you unlock it? You know, that gets really – for lack of better terms, kind of got to dumb it down and just try to put them in their spot. Like, I don't judge why you're calling me. And that's not the reason I'm in this. Like, I'm in this to help people. Well, Carol, you're a good person, then, because I don't judge everybody. I mean, I may do a little judging when I hang up and finally figure out what's going on. But in the moment, I'm like, I don't know what you're doing. But I think it's really, you know, just kind of put yourself in their shoes. Try to, like, picture what you would do and what could possibly be going on with them and solve the riddle for them, taking those deep breaths, not forgetting to breathe yourself, because the more you're amped, the worse it gets. And all of a sudden, everybody's screaming, like, for real. The officers are screaming because you're amped and you're talking to them. You're screaming at the caller. And I'm like, what is going on? Why are we all yelling? Why are we all yelling? This is not a race. It's just to remember why we're doing what we're doing is to remain calm. I mean, yeah. That's what it boils down to, for sure. Yeah. And I don't know if you told us this earlier, and I wasn't paying attention or if we didn't ask, but are you cross-trained so that, like, everybody in the center answer calls, dispatch, fire, rescue, and police, or? All at the same time. Each night, like, we're assigned. I rotate. Like, I'm a shift supervisor, so I rotate everybody so they don't work the same stuff over and over again every night because, like it or not, we are all siblings in this big gamut of things, and they'll drive you crazy. And so sometimes you're just like, I can't. I can't tonight with that channel. I can't tonight with those people. And so I try to be very mindful of not putting them all in the same place all the time. But we do answer police fire and EMS at the same time as, you know, do the radio. Right. Yeah, for sure. Jack of all trades. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's most fun that way. We've talked to some other people that, you know, have, like, you know, call takers. You know, they sit in part of the room, and then they've got fire rescue dispatchers and patrol dispatchers. And it sounds like, you know, oh, that sounds like a peaceful flow, and you're only having to deal with one thing. But at the same time, I guess in those places, they're probably so busy that they don't have time to get bored. But, you know, like, if we were sitting on the fire radio, and it was dead, I'd be so happy for that. Well, you'd be happy. But I would just be picking up 911 calls, because, you know, I'm on the air, so why not? Right. It is nice until the world is falling apart. Right. And, you know, this weekend with the full moon and all the chaos. Oh, Lord. Yeah. And I truly believe in all of that. Oh, yeah. For sure. But, you know, you're just like, I can't, because I have one chaotic situation happening while on the radio, some other chaotic situation is happening. And they have zero to do with each other. Right. Like, I'm handling something that is on the other side of the county that has nothing to do with the radio. I'm working. And I need to not be on this phone. Right. Right. Somebody takes something. I just don't know what it is. I just get it off my chest. Yeah. Do you prefer one radio over another? Like, do you prefer the police over fire EMS? Or do you just love it all? I love it all. Let me preface it with I love it all. But I love to burn things down. There you go. There you go. I know that that is terrible, and all my police friends are going to be real mad about this. But, like, I truly love. There's not a portion of my job that I don't love. Like, I really do. And I love police. And I love fire. But there's something about working a job at fire and the semantics and working with command to make sure everybody's going to where they need to go and lined up and all the rest of it that just really makes my blood pump. And so, yeah, I'm known in our center as the crazy who loves to work fire because I would work fire every day. Well, that would be Anna, too. She was the exact me who I would like to hide under the console if I had to work fire because I just didn't get it. But now here I am admin for a fire department. It makes no sense. Yeah. And it's so funny because when I first started, we had a fantastic fire chief 20 years ago when I first started doing this. And they let me out of training. Like, I was super fast, like super fast train. Like, let's just get you on the floor. And I'm like, okay. And the first night I'm working night shift. And we went down to three people at the time. And I'm minding my own business. And I was working fire. And it's like 2 o'clock in the morning. And the phone rings. And somebody says, there's fire coming out of the Japanese restaurant down the street, literally like six blocks from the PD. And I was like, oh, my gosh. I had no idea. And so he, you know, our fire chief gets up and he's like, just put a 2 on it. And let's just put a 3 on it. And I was like, I don't know what that means. What are these words? And so I, you know, of course my teammates were like, we're going to help you. It's okay. And we made it through. But I didn't have like, I've got a red top and a blue top. And I'm like, I don't know what that means. And I need them lined up down main. And he's like, just put a 2 on it. And only send me bodies. And 2 in. And I was like, wait a second. So I just remember going on my days off. And I went and I knocked on his door in his office. And I said, chief. And he goes, yeah. And I said, I never want to sound like a bassoon again. He was like, you were fine. I was like, I was not. I didn't feel fine. And I said, can you just teach me how to fight a fire? I just want to know. So he said, absolutely. Cleared his white board. And he was like, let's do it. So he taught me all the ins and outs of fighting fire. And it just really sparked for me to understand it. And so that I could anticipate for them. And so, yeah. It definitely made me love the fire service for sure. Well, I absolutely love it now, too. But I can just listen to dispatch now. I don't have to actually partake in it anymore. So it's great. You know, the lingo, like everywhere in the country can be so different. Well, it can be the same, but it can also be so different. Yeah. Like we've had this discussion on the show before. You know, out west, I assume you guys do, too. But, you know, especially where they have wildfires, a tanker is an airplane. Oh, yeah. Yeah, see, here, and they call what we call a tanker, which is a truck with a tank on it that carries water, they call that a tender. We do both. Yeah, see, and we would be like, I don't know what you need right now, but I don't have one of those. And you tell me tender, and I'm like, no, I'm not dating nobody. I vote against that. I vote against that. It is funny because some of our agencies have tenders, some of us have tankers. Interesting. They all have those things. Some of us have brush trucks and, you know, whatever. But it will say, like, get me a tender, and inadvertently I'll just tone a tanker, and they'll be like, Kami, we don't have a tanker. We have a tender. And I'm like, does it hold water? Right, exactly. You know what I'm talking about. Right. I know that you know I don't know, but it will be the same fire in one department, you know, 10 miles down the road that's going to be responding as a tanker, and this one is a tender. And I'm like, who cares? Just go. Does it have water? Because in the county we don't have fire hydrants. So everything is relied on. It's relied on the tenders and tenders. And so it's just like, get me some more water. And I'm like, all right, Captain, I got you. Right. That's why you do a tanker task force, Casey. I mean, come on now. Yes, but I never had to do that. Thank God. Thank God. I did not. And I always think, like, Felicity said with the, like, incident command and stuff, and then when you have a big incident that either involves law enforcement and fire, or it's just a big primarily law enforcement incident, and then they try to establish some sort of command, it turns into the most hysterical, at least where we were. It turned into just the most hysterical because they have no clue, like, about it. And they're trying to act like they do. And you're like, oh, God, here we go. Let me help you. This is what I do. No, no, no, no, no. This is how I maneuver that. It's so funny because we have a lot of volunteer fire departments. So that is also a thing. And so then everybody goes, and then they'll be like, lieutenant's going, and the captain's going, and more and more. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, oh, man, we got a lot of chiefs and not enough Indians. I remember those days. But they do fairly well, but every once in a while they'll be like, county, give me your rundown of what you have. And I'm like, and this is the moment that they've lost count. This is the moment command went left, and we don't know what has happened to them. But, yeah, no, they're all great and no joke. I love all of them. We have definitely some that are very southern sounding and very firm and just a big old accent and talk real slow. And I'm like, spit it out, let's go. And you can tell the city fire departments that are a little bit bigger, they're a little bit more quick on the draw. But, yeah. And we've had a fire chief say, I'm on my own farm, I'll just respond with my tractor. And sure enough, he did. And there he is in his overalls and his tractor, and he's there to command the fire. And I'm like, what? Sounds great, chief. Oh, my gosh. It's funny because, you know, the Virginia, at least in this part, I think when you go further south, they get into the slower draw. But, like, central, northern, western Virginia, they get – they talk faster. And they, like, they mumble and they run their words together. And so you're like, I don't know what that is. And I was not from around here when I started dispatching. So I would be like, especially the jurisdiction that I started in also, actually the fire departments, were all volunteer. They had career staff, but they basically staffed the medic units in the county. And so with SCBA on, I don't know what words just came out of your mouth, but it was not English. You know, it took me a while to, you know, get that ear to be able to know what in the hell they were saying because they mumbled so bad. So I appreciate that with at least the majority of the career people tend to be a little bit better on the radio. I'm not going to say they all are, but they tended to be back then. We laugh because my dad is originally from Maine. So that's where I'm originally from. And my mom's family is from Texas. They met in college in Missouri. Oh, wow. But they – so the random East Coast talk with that draw is I can speak it because that's – all my dad's side of the family speaks that way. And then, you know, the southern is definitely my mom's side of the family. I can speak that also. And when I first started, we had this influx of people from New York that came and live here, firemen and police officers after 9-11. And so they all came down here. And to this day, you get them on the radio with their New York accent, and they're like, where are they from? What are they doing here? And I'm like, that's so funny. I'm like, oh, I understand them. Yep. Yep. Oh, my gosh. That was funny. So let's talk about training. What kind of training did you go through to become a dispatcher in the Dallas-Fort Worth area? And is there ongoing training or certifications that you have to maintain? Yes. So the state of Texas has passed several years ago that we would be licensed. And so there's a difference. I have a basic telecommunicator license. I have an intermediate. I have an advanced. And then you get a master's, just like in police services. And it's kind of set up the same way. Like you have to have so many years of experience and so many training hours every year. We have to have, of course, so many training hours just to keep our license up to date. But when I first started, that was not a thing. And so we didn't have to be licensed. You just, you know, went. There's a two-week academy that we put people through that teaches them how to answer 911 and what it kind of is like the liability of being a dispatcher and liability we take on by giving instructions and doing EMD. They do all of those things in a two-week period at our county, the people that maintain 911. My brain does look blank. But they do a lot of our training facility for the whole county, for the whole district. And so we send them there, and then we do everything on the job. We do – there's four different phases. And you go in, and we start you with phones and just non-emergencies, taking everyday calls, and then we boost you up to 911s. And then we say, okay, let's, you know, complicate this and add you to a patrol channel or we'll put you on fire and teach you just to keep doing those building blocks of skills along the way. So when I first started, my training was supposed to be like six months. Mine was 93 days. So I just picked it up, and they were like, okay, you got this. I'm like, but do I? Okay, sounds right. Let's wing it. Yeah. But now we go – for our agency now, it's close to like eight to nine months of just, you know, everything. Because there's just a lot. It's just a lot. It's a lot of – because we have so many different departments and different areas, and we dispatch for so many different things that, you know, it covers state agencies and lakes and the county and Pittsburgh and cities and just keeping all of those jurisdictions and all of those rules and regulations, you know, straight and then building on top of can you answer the radio and answer the phone? Can you be on the phone and answer the radio? So anywhere right now, it's probably eight to nine months. On top of we do yearly training and submitting for further education and then get your license. And you have to have your license within the first year or so, which is like an academy-type situation. Who do you guys use for EMD? Yes. Do you use the National Academy or do you use like APCO? Or is there something else? We go through – a lot of our training is through APCO, yes. Okay. But our EMD is through the national, you know, the IAED. IAED, right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Like those acronyms, I'm on my day off. I have a day off every now and then. Right. So we go through our medical EMD through the IAED. Through them, yeah. Yeah. That's what we did, too. But we don't do the police part. Do you do fire? Do you do EFD? No. No. Good for you. No. And I'm thankful for that, too. Like it's such a double-edged sword there. Like it's great to give guidance, but I don't want – in my mind, I don't want to commit my questioning in a situation for police or a fire because I haven't gotten to that question yet. I don't. Like I can't. Get out of the house. Right. Your crap's on fire. Right. Exactly. Nobody cares. Just get out. You know, I don't want to be so honed in. I understand the medical part because there's just a lot of – Yeah, and if you're on the phone, like if you're dispatching fire and you're on the phone at the same time with somebody whose shit is on fire, like I just want to get the fire trucks down the road. Like I don't need to answer stupid questions. Like I just get the fire trucks going and you get out of your whatever's on fire, right? Yeah. Yeah. I felt the same way about that. I have a big proponent of fast tracking. He says you can fast track the call and just get them going, and we do a lot of that. And our firemen are like they have really great response times, period, to just about anywhere in our county. There's only a few places now that doesn't have a fire station that's close enough that it's not within, you know, a five to a ten minute out in the rural area. There are some, you know, places that are quite a while. But at the same time, like you can fast track it. They don't care. They know what they're going to. I'm going to tell them you're going to a seizure, then obviously they're having a seizure. And unless I tell you we're doing CPR, just go. Like you'll figure it out when we get there. And they're really understanding of all the chaos that we're doing on top of it to just be like, what am I going to? You're going to a seizure. Okay, great, Kim. Thank you. Right. Right. Yeah. That being said, dispatchers are often the unsung heroes. So can you share a memorable call or experience that really impacted you, whether it was a good outcome or one that was particularly challenging? So, I mean, like what? I can think of several. One, back in 2007-ish, 2008, I had a lady that was carjacked. But she had the forethought to drop her phone, her iPhone, in her car. I mean, this was like iPhones just coming out. Right. And so he didn't know it was under the seat. It had gone under the seat, and I tracked his cell phone with GPS. He had a gun. He had taken her phone. He had taken all kinds of stuff. And he had a pulser, so we tracked the phone. In fact, I think it even went to Supreme Court at some point of being kind of setting the standard for, you know, these big felony-type things. But we tracked it and tracked it and tracked it and tracked it. And he was so dumb as to drive all around Dallas and then come back to the town and go to a park. And so I was like, oh, my gosh. And we had Dallas SWAT, like, on standby. And we were like, you're going to hit this area because I have tracked this phone. He was like, got it. It's down in the chop shop area. We'll be happy to do it. They literally were about to make this call. And I was like, let me ping it one more time just to be on the safe side. And I'm like, never mind. He's coming back. And I was like, just wait. But, yeah, that was kind of a fun one that, you know, and we walked up to him and we're like, did you steal this car? And he was like, what? And I was like, that phone you're on, does it have a picture of a dog on it? And he was like, yeah. And he was like, okay, you're under arrest. That's crazy. Yeah, super dumb. He did some jail time there. I think the other one that most I just testified in court on this is a guy that called one night. We were sitting around, minding our own business. And the phone rang and I just happened to pick it up. And the guy confesses to killing his girlfriend and her son. And I was like, wait, what? And he's like, yeah, I killed her. And so I just talked him through it. I had him, you know, I asked him all the questions. Like, why would you do that? Like, tell me what happened. And so he tells me, he tells me why he did it. He tells, you know, and I just had that raving mind to just flip from, there's nothing we can do about this right now. Like, he's murdered her. She's in the front yard. The son is in the house. They're both dead. They had waited like an hour to call. And nobody else called about gunshots either. Like, he unloaded the gun. Of course not. And so there was not a single call. And I'm like, you'll call about a firework, but you won't call about this. All right. Right. But I don't know. I just kind of flipped script and just went more into just tell me what is going on and tell me why and tell me what happened and tell me. And he's like, she came home late for the last time. And so I shot her and I killed her. Like, and he didn't. And so I just testified in that. That happened a couple of years ago and he got life. So those are, you know, some of those are. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And they always happen. Yeah. They always happen when you're just sitting around. Like, you know, it's like. It's one of those things that literally sticks in your brain because we literally were sitting here talking about streaming services and how many streaming services we all, you know, subscribe to. And is it better to go with cable? And I don't know why we were talking about it. And we were just all sitting there and all of a sudden, you know, the phone rings and I'm like, and I mute it and I go, this guy just killed somebody. And they're like, well, all right, here we go. And here we go. And, you know, when I could talk, I just talked to him. And I was like, when you walk out of the house, he's like, I was going to kill myself. And I'm like, well, not today. That's not going to happen. You know, and it was on the, it was on the hills, on the heels of, you know, George Floyd and all of these things that had just happened. I just happened to look up and see that I knew that my caller was African-American and all of my responding officers just happened to be white and that this all happened. And I was like, over my dead body, is that going to be a situation where we make the news for this? You know, I really wanted to protect them and get him to give up and just walk out with no weapon and just go into custody and save all of that, you know, and that was truly like in the forethought of my brain. And so, you know, and he did. He gave up and he walked out and he did exactly what it was and now he's in prison. So. Where he needs to be. Exactly. So now with that being said, how do you handle the emotional aspect of the job? It's one thing to manage the stress in the moment, but there must be those calls or some other calls that stick with you even after your shift. Yeah, I am super thankful. I have a really great circle of people first and foremost, but they all know me fairly well. And I am a big center and I encourage people to vent. I encourage my shift event. Like, if you need a moment where you're just like, what in the living hell just happened here? I want you to voice that because my I've learned so often in life is that if you just put it out there, you've put it out there and you've laid it out and then you can pick up what you want and then you have the option to leave what you don't. And it kind of goes into even a spiritual part. People always say just give it to God. And I go, okay, that's great. And then just give it up. Like, put it out there. Put it out there and just lay it down. Because if you've laid it down and you've shared it, you're not stealing on it and you're not turning it and you're not turning it again and you're not just holding on to it because the holding on to it will kill you. Yes. And that is not at all what I'm about. So I am a huge proponent of vent it out. And so I will. I'll be like, I need somebody to jump on my bandwagon about this for just a hot second. And I'm like, and another thing. And so that is totally just my personality. I am not a good person to be like, just internalize that. Nope, that's not me. I am a draw your sword and I'm not about this and this is where it's at. Because then it gives me the opportunity to just for people to learn but also to learn from somebody else. But at the same time, you know, people are like, why don't you journal? And I'm like, it's not the same. I can't write as fast as I want to talk it out. Right. Exactly. I'd much rather just put it out there. So I encourage people to be like, you may not know. You know, that's what I tell my best friend's lieutenant at a city agency. And she knows the perspective of being a cop. And she goes, you know, she sympathizes with the dispatcher part. But sometimes I'm just like, I just need to get this out. Like, let me just get this out and we can move on because I just don't understand and I need to be mad about this. Or I need to cry it out and I just need to sit there. And, you know, we've done that. And she's literally come and picked me up and I've been so upset or been so stressed that she just drives around the city and I'm just boohooing and another thing and I don't understand and whatever. And she'll be like, are you better? And I'm like, I'm better. And it's amazing what stress comes off your chest when you just put it out there. And so that would probably be my biggest component. I'm just taking up reading. I've never been a reader a day in my life at all. But I have just found that I am so wrapped up in life all the time that I need to find some sort of escape from what is not real life. And so I've taken up reading books. And it's super weird. I'm 44 years old and the last time I read a real book was when Fifty Shades of Gray came out. And I read those books way back when. And before that, I couldn't tell you, it was probably college. But I read, you know, now I'm like, let's just pick up a book and just, you know, do something different where you just can forget about it. And so I've, like, read eight books this past month. And I'm like, what is that something? I'm shocked. And even my Kindle app says, you are on a roll. Wow. So do you feel like there's a strong sense of community among dispatchers in your area? Do you guys have ways of supporting each other, like formal ways or just informal ways? Right. I think it's kind of like, I'm going to say this and it's okay if people do not agree. But I will say that it's going to be what you make of it. I have really great dispatcher friends from agencies all over the place. And we talk about things or we share funny stories or, you know, what not. But if you don't, as a dispatcher, go and make yourself available and meet people when you go to trainings and you form those bonds, then that's really going to be on you and what you make of it. So for me, yes, I think I have a great circle and a great working relationship with a lot of people from, you know, all services in all walks of life from all agencies. But would I say everybody does? No, not at all. And it really is just what you make of it and how people-y you want to be, I guess. Yeah. Do you guys have any, like, formal in your department, like, you know, peer support or anything like that? They-well, we have a, you know, critical incident crisis management group that if something big were to happen, we can call them and they can come in. Right. The biggest-whenever this topic comes up, the biggest, quote, unquote, complaint that happens is, but those dispatchers that serve on that team don't know what it's like to work for our agency. And it's true. I mean, you know, the majority of them are going to come from an agency that's a one-man-you know, not a one-man band, but, like, a one agency, one fire department agency. We work for 30. And so it's a lot of those-are they really going to understand? You know, several years ago we had an officer involved shooting and the officer, of course, you know, he died. And it was really hard. But there were 28 other cities that we were having to, you know, dispatch for. And that-those didn't stop. Right. And people don't really understand the dynamics of really what that means. And then because we dispatch for these agencies, we don't specifically work for those cities, is not being forgotten on how it affects us, even though we work for the sheriff's office. We don't work for the city that had the death or the shooting, but it doesn't stop us from hurting. So I try to be very cognizant of-you can see a lot of our dispatchers are jailed pretty tight together. And people will want to say clicky, but it's just the dynamics of it. They all got hired around the same time or they all got-they all got put on the same newbie shift. And so they're all pretty tight. And so I would say in-house, they probably form pretty good. And I try to be really cognizant of just people in general. I'm kind of-somebody called me the mother hen the other day, and I'm like-she's not trying to be the mother hen, but they're like, well, see, you should go check on so-and-so because they took a rough call earlier. And I'm like, got you. I will go do that. And it's funny because, you know, I pull her in. I'm like, how are you doing? How's your day? And she's like, well, that first call sucked. And I'm like, yeah, it did. And, you know, and then just cried about it a little bit. And we talked about it. And she goes, I really appreciate you pulling me in. And I'm like, I don't want you to walk around here thinking you can't just look at me and go, you and me in the office. I got something to say because that's, you know, that's truly what I believe in. And she's like, you know, okay. And she's fairly new. She doesn't-she's only done this a couple years, and she's just lucked out to not have a really horrible, you know, tough call. And she got one the other day and she filled it literally and figuratively. She just did a really great job. But, you know, that affected her. And, you know, and I just kind of watched her all night. And she's like, well, I'm not one of those people that needs to talk about it right off. And I said, I sense that about you. That's why we're doing it 12 hours later. But, you know, I just think it's hard. The dynamics are hard when you don't have the ratio is not the right setting to really understand the whole thing, which I don't expect because I can go love on Dallas PD, and they're a dynamic that nobody has. You know, they do things completely different. But I can call them and offer them and tell them, hey, we're here to help and we just want you to know that we love you. And no matter what, we did that when the tornadoes came through a neighboring county and just narrow one man or two person dispatch center, and they were inundated when the tornadoes came through. And, you know, we gathered some snacks and stuff and took it out to their center and loved on them the best way we could and told them, you know, or we can help. Like, what can we do? And if it's just to make jokes and sit here and your center and ease some of the stress, we're happy to do that. So we definitely have a pretty good caring group, I would say. That's good. Now, do you think the general public understands the role of a dispatcher and what are some of the misconceptions you wish people knew the truth about? That when you dial 9-1-1, it is not a national center and I can't hook you up to wherever you think that that's happening. I feel like this brings us back to episode one of our, almost exactly a year ago. We have to tell people all the time, like, you can't, you know, somebody called the other day and said, my emergency is in somewhere on the East Coast, somewhere in Pennsylvania. I don't know. Somewhere over there. And I said, I said, call the number directly. But I did. And they said, if I have an emergency, to hang up and dial 9-1-1. And I was like, I'm going to dial here. I have to tell people that a lot. Like, yeah. When you call them, it's going to tell you if you have an emergency, hang up and dial 9-1-1. Don't do that. Stick to it. Hold out. Hold strong. They're going to pick up. Tell them you have an emergency, but you're not there. And he was like, oh, you can't disconnect me. And I'm like, no. I mean, I could if I dialed. I mean, I could Google the number and dial it for you. I'm going to give you the number because I have Googled it for you. But I'm going to need you to call because don't hang up. Like, it could be committed. I think that is a big one. The other for me is just that the dynamics of every discussion is in different period. And so we don't just have people in a room. You know, poor Fort Worth, when you call Fort Worth, they have call takers and you will get put on the internal, you know, you've got a number and we'll get to you in just a second. And so they don't really understand that dynamics of calling 9-1-1 and being put on hold immediately and before anybody ever even answers. We don't have that because everything comes directly to us and we just pick up. And so everything is different. So you can't go into it thinking it's all the same because it's not. Everybody has different things. Yeah. All right. So before we wrap it up, for anyone listening who might be interested in a career as a dispatcher, what advice would you give? And is there anything they should know before they consider the job? It's a lot. And it's a lot of commitment. That would be my biggest thing is people get into this thinking, well, my holidays will be off. Nope. 24 seven. My weekends will be off. Nope. 24 seven. And, you know, I'm 18 years in, and I still work part of every single weekend. And so there's that is a lot of commitment and it kind of envelops you like you become a dispatcher and it literally becomes a part of who you are. It's not just a thing you do. It's who you are. And the other part is, it's okay if you get into it and hate it or you get into it and go, this is not for me. We would rather you just say that. And acknowledge it and be like, I would rather go flip burgers because sometimes I say that. So then, then do this, but. I think it's okay. It's okay. Even in police work or fire, you know, fire agencies to go, okay, this is not what I thought or it's too much for me or I just can't handle it. Nobody, no one is going to judge you for going. This is not for me. And. And walk away. It's okay. Because I think of people are like, I don't want to fail at this. And I'm like, that's fine. Nobody wants to fail at this. But sometimes it's just not for you. It's not failing. It's just understanding. Right. This is not your genre of things to do in your life. And that's okay. That's nobody, you know, and then some people get into it and are like, I absolutely love this. And this is. This is easy. And I think it's easy, but it's my second nature. And I just fell into it and loved it. And it was where I was supposed to be. And I think it's okay. I think it's easy, but it's my second nature. And I just fell into it and loved it. And it was where I was supposed to be. And some people have to fight through it. And. Some people are like, Nope. I'm out. Like, I don't know. I mean, I used to love it. And, but it is still a very much. So a big part of. You know who I am, even though I'm not dissection anymore, but. You know, I didn't go too far out of it by working. Now for a local fire department and admin. So, you know, I still. I'm kind of in it, but I still. Go through the emotions. Like every other dispatcher would still, but it does actually mold you into. A totally different person than when you start. That's 1000%. That's been the hardest thing for my family. My parents and stuff is that. You know, I just, they don't understand why I don't want to talk on the phone. And, you know, 18 years. My dad will be like, you'll wait. And I'm like, I'm going to regret answering this, but yes. And then immediately my phone rings and I'm like. I don't think that was an invitation for you to call, but. You know, so that's a hard and it's a hard thing for your family to not understand is why you miss all the birthdays or why Christmas is on a different day for y'all. You know, Thanksgiving. That's hard. You know, for sure. You know, I think that's why we kind of gravitate to each other and become each other's support and each other's family. It's because we're like, well, we know that, you know. Christmas is going to be on Thursday when it was really on Monday this week. And, you know, we're like, we understand. It's okay. We got this. So. For sure. Well, we want to thank you so much for sharing your story. With us today. It's clear that dispatchers are just as important and play a critical role in Dallas, Fort Worth area as well. So. Yeah. I'm excited that we finally got somebody. We have. We had Colorado before, but we have had Colorado, but not quite as far as Texas. Yeah. Well, that's super fun. That is exciting. Yeah. And it's actually one of my favorite areas. Like the more the Fort Worth area. Like I like that side. Better. Yeah. Yeah. The ranching. Yes. I like that side. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 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