People Have Misconceptions About 911 And Dispatchers
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series looking at the Kosciusko Communications Center and dispatchers. Though anyone can easily look up a phone number or directions online, the Kosciusko 911 Communication Center is sometimes treated like an information center. Kosciusko Communications Center Assistant Director Sarah Lancaster said, “The biggest misconception is that we’re secretaries. We are not secretaries.” She said people often will call dispatch for phone numbers for pizza delivery or directions. “Our busy times, where people call for directions, are spring and summer where people are trying to find an address for a garage sale,” Lancaster said. During inclement weather, she said they get many calls for road condition requests. Sometimes people will call in those requests on the emergency-only 911 line. The non-emergency number is 574-267-5667. “911 is what we like to consider life-threatening emergencies,” Lancaster explained. “Either they’ve got a life-threatening medical condition, or you’ve got something where you feel your life is in jeopardy. Burglaries in progress – that’s a good 911 call. Someone’s trying to carjack you – that’s (a good 911 call). Things like ‘I have a lockout. I’m at Walmart and I locked my keys in my car.’ That’s not life threatening. Now, it is considered life threatening if there’s a small child locked in the car.” Another misconception centers around the questions a dispatcher asks a caller. “I think the public gets frustrated with a lot of the questions we ask, but we’re asking those type of questions to paint a really good picture to our first responders that are en route – police, fire, EMS,” Lancaster said. “And the more information we can have for them, the better prepared they can be.” Twenty-one-year dispatch veteran Heather Zentz said some of the misconceptions about dispatchers are “that when the radios are not busy, we’re not busy. That we’re lazy. That we’re sitting down here doing nothing. That we’re just sitting down here waiting for their calls. We have other work to do.” She then had to take a call about a dog that was barking non-stop while tied to a front porch at 12:45 a.m. Oct. 7 during her shift. After taking the call, Zentz continued listing misconception, like “That we’re a clerical staff. That we work Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. That we know where everyone is. That we’re telephone operators. People think we can ping phones to locate people ... We’re not ‘CSI.’ Don’t believe everything you see on TV.” Lancaster said when and how a person contacts 911 is a generational thing. “You’ll have older seniors ... they’re very hesitant to call 911 because they don’t want to be a burden. And I am a lot more lenient when a senior person calls in on 911. I try to very professionally educate them, but if it’s the most easiest number they can remember, I’m good with it,” Lancaster said. On the other end of the age spectrum, she said younger people will more freely contact 911. “I don’t know where we lost the education where 911 is for life-threatening emergencies versus non-life-threatening,” Lancaster said. However, she said Millennials won’t call 911 but will more likely text it. “The state of Indiana was the leader in this Text 911. And I think it was because of the Generation Y and the Millennials where they text. And you can, in our county, text 911 and we’re going to treat it just like a voice 911 call. We’re going to ask you all the questions,” Lancaster said. Dispatch also has a Standard Operating Procedure where if a dispatcher gets what is known as a “silent call,” the dispatcher attempts to call it back. If the dispatcher gets a negative response that way, then the dispatcher will start a text session with them. She said the younger generation will respond quicker with a text message than a call. “The Text 911 works really well with domestic situations where they can’t talk, where there’s someone trying to break into the house, or where they physically can’t talk,” Lancaster said. She estimated that on average the Communications Center may get two to three legitimate 911 texts a day. “It may be a little less, but you’re looking at a 24-hour period, too,” Lancaster said. As the public becomes more aware of Text 911, she expects to see an increase in that.
