Hidden Heroes: Rabun 911 Dispatch is the first point of contact in an emergency

Echo. Verify. Repeat.

These are key instructions Rabun County 911 dispatchers follow as they are the initial step in the emergency process when community members call needing help.

First responders are dispatched to car crashes, fires, gas leaks, domestic disputes, burglaries, and various other situations every day.

But it’s the men and women at Rabun County 911 Dispatch who are behind the scenes as the first point of contact in an emergency; the ones behind that thin yellow line.

Recently I got the opportunity to shadow some of our Rabun County Dispatchers and learned about the extraordinary tasks they are given every day.

Corrie Turpin, Becky Dryman and Kenette Turner have decades of experience between them and work as a team when it comes to handling calls.

“It’s a group effort,” Turpin described. “We all work together here,” Turner said.

Whether it’s emergency calls or even non-emergency calls, dispatchers never know what the next call will be and have to remain cool, calm and collected even in the midst of possible chaotic, dangerous and life-threatening situations presented to them.

Dispatchers know that they have to act fast to respond and provide the caller with the help and resources they need.

“Sending them help they need efficiently,” Turpin said about the mindset behind each call. This has to be done in a quick and timely manner. Dispatchers must do this while also consoling the caller and letting them know that help is on the way. Turner described it as dispatchers having to be counselors at times and calm people down.

“You have to understand, this is the worst time for them,” Turner said about the reaction of the caller. “It calms them down to know they got in touch with someone and help is on the way.”

“The calmer you are, the better they are,” Turpin added.

Dispatchers have to gather the information from the caller by asking questions, verifying the address of the emergency and a phone number, then have to relay this information to the appropriate department whether it be fire, EMS, or police. Simultaneously, they have to drop tones to dispatch the appropriate departments, while continuing to obtain more detailed information about the situation and relaying that to the first responders. If the call gets disconnected, dispatchers also have to try to call back. Additionally, dispatchers have to page other first responders; coordinate a landing zone for a helicopter; contact neighboring 911 agencies, hospitals, animal control, poison control, police departments and other facilities; and complete many other tasks to give callers the resources they need.

And it takes extraordinary discipline, multi-tasking skills and teamwork to make that happen.

“It’s a learning experience,” Turpin explained about the job.

“It teaches you self control,” Dryman said about prioritizing and multitasking.

And protocol is the same, no matter who is on the other line.

The dispatchers were describing experiences they have had during their careers and the mindset they had to stay in while taking calls, which were sometimes from their own family members.

“Your professionalism takes over,” Turner said of these types of calls.

Dispatchers also have to be knowledgeable about road closures and any information that would be important for first responders to know when responding to calls.

All these tasks are completed simultaneously with a limited staff of three or four people at a time.

Call volumes are doubled in the summer months and on holidays. Dispatchers often get several calls at once and have to work diligently and efficiently to provide all callers with the resources and help they need.

Dispatchers are the first point of contact during an emergency, but they often don’t find out how a situation ends once the call is completed.

“Our job is kind of like reading a book and you never get to finish it,” Dryman said. She said they do everything they can while the caller is on the phone and it is then placed in the hands of the first responders.

Turpin, Dryman and Turner said the job is very rewarding. They all echoed that they love their jobs as dispatchers because they get to help people through their most difficult, vulnerable and sometimes painful moments in their lives.

“I really do love helping people,” Dryman said. “It makes me feel proud to get to come to work. I know that I’ve helped [the people in my community] and it makes me feel good.”

Turpin said her favorite part of the job is “helping the citizens of the community.”

Turner said one of the best parts of the job for her is “when callers tell you ‘thank you’ for helping them. It stays with us.”

So next time you are driving down the road or walking down the street and hear emergency sirens, think of our first responders but also think about the men and women of Rabun County 911 Dispatch. Because they are the brave souls who sit behind that thin yellow line, ready and willing to help you with your next emergency.

Thank you to Mike Carnes, EMS/E-911 director, and Gregg Dover, CAD/911 Network manager, for allowing me the opportunity to shadow these dispatchers.

Megan Broome is The Clayton Tribune news editor.