‘It’s what we do.’ 911 operators work behind the scenes to relieve coronavirus fears
Calls for help with illnesses are common for Lexington 911 operators to receive, but the way those emergencies are handled is anything but ordinary during the coronavirus pandemic.
When those illness calls come into Jennifer Begley, she turns to her newly routine questions: Have you been around someone with coronavirus? Do you have any symptoms? Have you been tested?
Begley is one of Lexington’s dispatchers. She’s been on the job for 22 years but hasn’t seen anything like the coronavirus. It’s sadly a first for all involved in the effort to get emergency medical care to those in need.
Begley has to help the panicked callers and the firefighters or emergency medical technicians who will respond. They need to know if they need protective equipment to keep them safe while they get troubled patients to the hospital.
“They call, and they’re like, ‘oh my God, I think I might have it,’” Begley said of patients. “And you’re like, ‘well, hold on a second. We’ll get you some help.’”
All the while, Begley has to remain unemotional herself — she can’t linger on what happened in a single call.
“We just have to be prepared for the next one,” she said.
Firefighters, paramedics and police need to be as informed and aware of the dangers as possible when responding to calls.
“There’s so much more that they need to know on these calls, so they can be safe and know what’s going on,” Begley said. “. . . I want to make sure they have all the information they need before they enter those houses.”
‘Hysterical’ callers fear coronavirus
In addition to protecting responders from the COVID-19 dangers, Begley has had to soothe some “hysterical” callers who think they have the potentially deadly virus.
“Of course they’re upset, we just try to calm them, and we’re here to help, and we’ll take care of them and get them to the hospital,” Begley said.
Begley, who dispatches for the Lexington Fire Department, said call volumes haven’t increased since the coronavirus pandemic started. She said if anything, they’ve decreased.
Latricia Garrison, a 911 operator for the Lexington Police Department, also said call volumes had dropped.
“It’s actually kind of slowed down because there’s people not out moving about as much,” said Garrison, who has been with the city for 16 years.
Even though calls have dropped, the stress of helping rattled patients isn’t easy to absorb.
“We kind of just check ourselves at the door when we get here,” Begley said. “We don’t want to get ourselves emotionally involved because we get so many calls about death and destruction. If you let that emotionally affect you, it’s going to affect you on the next call.”
Begley was already familiar with the work conditions. She’s the second of three generations of first responders in her family. Her mom, Betty Begley, was a dispatcher, and later retired from the Fire Department chief’s office. Jennifer Bagley’s daughter, Kathryn Flood, is a fellow dispatcher.
“I think a lot of us, because of the job we do, suck it in and keep going as if it’s not going on because there’s a lot of emotional things that we hear and listen to,” Jennifer Begley said. “... If we stop to think about things all the time, we would never get through the day.”
The city has taken steps to help dispatchers, Begley said. The Kentucky Community Response Team came in to offer counseling for employees stressed about the pandemic, and the coronavirus was the topic of a stress and wellness class for the employees when Kentucky started to feel the effects of the pandemic, Begley said.
Dispatchers crucial to protecting firefighters
The first responders that the dispatchers work with are quick to acknowledge how crucial the dispatchers are, especially during a pandemic. Jordan Saas, battalion chief at the Lexington Fire Department, said the dispatchers’ “importance is critical.”
“Their job is irreplaceable right now,” he said. “. . . We go in with an open mindset, but they give us the first initial image of what we might be going into.”
Saas said without the dispatchers, firefighters and paramedics wouldn’t be able to know what personal protective equipment they need to use.
“They go through, and they prioritize, and they triage every call that comes in,” he said. “They are technically the first line of defense for us.”
Begley said she fears call traffic will get much heavier when the pandemic passes.
“It’ll probably be just chaotic,” she said. “It’s the calm before the storm.”
Until the pandemic subsides, those inside the dispatch center have to take extra steps to keep the virus outside. Realizing their necessity to the community, 911 dispatchers have had to increase cleaning of their workstations, have their temperatures taken when they get to work, wear masks, and clean their shoes daily.
“It’s just not coming into work anymore and sitting down and working,” Begley said.
As dispatchers have been deemed essential, they understand they are needed to serve the community, Begley said.
“You’re 50 percent scared, but you’re 50 percent like ‘it’s what we do,’” Begley said.
Everyone relies on them, Begley said, so they have to be there.
“Here, it’s like Disneyland,” Begley said. “Without us, the magic doesn’t happen.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 7:33 AM.