Emerg Services 999 Call Taking Is Destructive To The Core

[Deleted member 20280]

As a 999 call taker for some 15 years I have taken and listened to some of the most harrowing situations life can throw up.

The main issue with 999 call taking is thus:-

When an emergency worker goes code 6 at an incident they visually see the trauma that is involved, they see the death with their conscious mind and see it all pan out with their waking eye.

For a 999 call-taker we cannot see what is actually happening to the victim at the moment of trauma and our subconscious mind therefore takes over, we put the pictures together just like trying to complete a jigsaw with our eyes closed.

Our minds quite literally make up the pictures to fit. We bash these pieces together mentally.

 

[Stickler]

I believe you. Yes, had plenty of reasons to call 911 for others, it would seem to be a brutal job.

 

[Gadgie]

We had a "call taker" come out on a "ride along" in our ambulance one night, as she wanted to see what actually happened whe she sent a crew out.

After a slow start, things picked up as the evening wore on, when we went to a road accident, where we she saw the carnage that can result from a high speed road accident.

She had to go out of sight behind a fire engine to throw up, after that, she was so quiet for the rest of the night, as up until then she had been quite chatty.

Her work mate was supposed to come out with us the following evening, but she changed her mind, and never showed up.

 

[Altbenji]

The connection dispatch has with fire/ems/police is very close. We are your resources on the street. You are given a problem to solve, and you dispatch us accordingly. We are yours and you are ours. You hear us in distress. You hear civilians in a panic. You hear silence louder than anything else. We hear your voice when things go badly and we need help. Dispatch is the calm in the storm. And I think the inability to put eyes on the situation would be incredibly upsetting. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be on the other side of the radio. I appreciate you, and every dispatcher, for your service.