Dispatchers: The first to help

Dispatchers: The first to help
By Deputy Chief John Fay
Glencoe, Ill., Department of Public Safety

The dispatcher is pivotal to a successful outcome and sets the tone for the entire call. The public and rescue personnel depend heavily upon their ability to decisively and calmly act amidst the chaos. Their initial size-up and deployment of personnel and equipment is vital to mitigating the incident.

The public recognizes the uniform of the first responder, but rarely thanks the first to help: the dispatcher. The dispatcher is the "ladder" of the call. He or she is not the one who climbs the ladder and receives the accolades, but is the ladder for others to respond effectively. They know that few in the public will know how important he or she really is to the successful outcome of that difficult call.

Many go into the profession to simply be of assistance. Along the way, some may take different paths, but all have made a positive difference in many people's lives. We've all been blessed to meet and work with many fine dispatchers. All rescue personnel have at one time or another relied heavily upon the calming voice of a dispatcher to help them through a tough call. If anyone has been Incident Command, you can rest assure that a dispatcher will professionally remind you, "Command do you want an additional ambulance?" realizing you forgot to request one!

These fine women and men are the first to worry about a rescue worker when he or she does not respond on the radio. What seems like an eternity — and is only a few minutes, are those moments that a communications operator is desperately awaiting the rescuer's response. Their imaginations run the gamut of all types of disastrous and are ecstatic when they hear rescuers say, "Go ahead dispatch." The rescuers can "see" and "hear" all that is going on at the scene. The dispatcher can only imagine and is not afforded immediate feedback as to the outcome of the call or severity of the situation. They must try to piece it all together.

A prime example of this took place at Katrina. I had the privilege and honor to accompany the first wave of rescue workers from the state of Illinois to travel to Katrina. We took all our supplies, fire apparatus, police vehicles, mechanics, and basic first aid provisions. We all know that communication is vital to all aspects of rescue work. We found out it would have been a tremendous asset to have taken communication operators along with the firefighters, police, and paramedics that were deployed. Terminology and equipment needs for certain types of responses caused some errors to occur. This would have been limited, if not fully avoided, if we had taken some communication operators. The rescue workers from Illinois were able to allow for the disaster stricken workers to get a break and regroup. We were unable to spell the "Kat Command" dispatchers because we did not bring any communication operators. An important lesson we learned when critiquing the response.

Commitment, consistency, and compassion are the core principles of communication operators. We all should thank them for their help!

John Fay started as an emergency medical technician (EMT-B) in 1981 for the Northfield Rescue Squad. In 1983, Fay expanded to law enforcement, firefighting, and became a paramedic for the Glencoe Department of Public Safety and will be retiring as a Deputy Chief on October 16, 2009, whereupon he will be teaching and spending time with his five children. Fay has served as Deputy Chief for all three disciplines (police, firefighting, paramedic) as Glencoe Department of Public Safety is the only Department in the United States to receive accreditation in both law enforcement and fire services. An ordained a Deacon for the Archdiocese of Chicago, Fay has striven to bridge the work place and the church.

Fay tells FireRescue1: "During my career, I have responded to numerous tragedies from such high profile cases such as the Laurie Dann shootings in May of 1988 and more recently sent to Katrina as part of the first wave of rescue workers from Illinois to assist. Yet, it is the numerous day-to-day exchanges of those needing help that have filled my heart over the years. I will continue teaching at the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, where I have been an adjunct instructor since 1992. In addition, I teach fire fighters, communication operators, and other rescue personnel at NIPSTA (Northern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy). I am exploring other avenues to giving back to the professions of law enforcement, fire fighting, and emergency medical services that I have a passion for and deeply respect."

Being an instructor for Northwestern University allows Fay to travel about the country and listen to the many heroic feats that many fine women and men perform day in and day out keeping our neighborhoods safe. Fay has spoken at state conferences for Communication Operators and exchanges in tremendous dialogue about such calls such as the Northern Illinois shootings, Columbine shootings, and many other horrific incidents.