They are the voices with no names, heard on police scanners at all hours of the day and night.
Serving as the bridge between victim and responder, they relay the very important information to police, firefighters or ambulance personnel.
Kevin Fitzpatrick has served in this nameless role for nearly five years. He has carried across that bridge everything from vehicle accidents to domestic arguments. But, it never takes a grind on him. He, along with the other Lowndes County 911 operators, keep chugging along from call to call.
“I love doing it. (The other operators) were talking about that today. I’ve been working each day this week except for Tuesday and will work through the weekend, and they said I never get grumpy.”
Fitzpatrick is a New York native and lived in Tennessee during his teenage years. He worked as a security oficer at Columbus Air Force Base for two and a half years and is an auxiliary deputy.
But with the recent homicides occurring in Columbus, being a 911 operator, as Fitzpatrick says, can “take a toll” on anyone.
“It’ll take a toll on your psyche, if you let it,” Fitzpatrick said.
How hectic or stressful can your job be?
It can get really hectic. We have one of the highest call volumes in the state. Last year, we logged just under 120,000 calls … Dispatchers never get that closure. We get the beginning of the call so it’s kind of like we’re the first at the scene. But once we send the cops, once we send the ambulance, once we send the firefighters, we usually have no details after that. We’re not told anything else. We usually get that stress buildup from the call, but never the stress release.
How do you personally release that stress?
Mixed Martial Arts. Relentless grappling and MMA. Right now I only go once a week but I used to go three times a week. You’ve got to have something. Really, in any career field, you’ve got to have something. With this job you can’t let yourself get burnt out.
How many lines are there at the center?
There are seven 911 lines and six administrator lines.
What happens if there are 13 people on the line and a 14th person calls? Is it a busy signal?
I don’t think it has ever happened. I think it will keep ringing until it rolls over to the next empty line, or that is how it’s supposed to work.
What do you get the most calls for?
We get a lot of accident calls, animal control calls, someone is always fighting and arguing, and we get a ridiculous amount of hang-up calls from people with cellphones in their pockets or kids playing with the phones. Last year we had over 15,000 hang-up calls.
What is your least favorite call to get?
When people call, we understand they are under stress, but it’s not our fault. Sometimes they get irate with us because we have to ask questions. We have to know where you are and what’s going on. People are like, ‘Just get them out here. Just get them out here.’ We have to ask for responder safety, if nothing else. If someone is bleeding and was shot, but the person who shot him is still there, it puts a whole new spin on it.
Do you ever get ‘thank you’ calls from people after the incident is resolved?
Every once in a blue moon you’ll get that one person that calls and says, ‘Thank you.” But that’s pretty rare. Even if someone calls today to thank a job well done yesterday, usually it was a whole different crew of dispatchers. I think I remember one time when I was working and someone that called earlier called back, and I just happened to answer the call, and the person thanked me.
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