‘Unsung heroes’ celebrated during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

Geauga County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher Christina Lamtman helped save the life of a Middlefield Township woman suffering a severe asthma attack with her quick and professional call skills. (William Tilton – The News-Herald)

You don’t know their names, but you’ve might have heard their voices.

You don’t recognize all of what they do, but you’ve likely have benefitted from their talent.

In some instances, they may have been responsible for saving the life of someone you know — or your own.

As many area police and fire officials stress, dispatchers and call center workers are the true first responders and the unsung heroes of the departments.

These behind-the-scenes workers were recently recognized during National Public Safety Telecommunications Week from April 14 through April 20.

Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand does not underestimate the essential importance the dispatchers at the department are for the entire county. One example of their efforts took place in the fall of 2022, when Dispatcher Christina Lamtman helped save the life of a woman suffering a serious asthma attack.

Lake County Sheriff Office Chief Deputy Robert Izzo is impressed with the efforts of the talented workers in a busy call center.

“At Central Communications our dispatchers are highly trained in what is perhaps the most difficult job to learn at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office,” Izzo said. ” We receive all cellular 911 calls for the entire county and dispatch for 22 police and fire agencies so our dispatchers need to know the intricacies of each agency. They are at the ready 24 hours a day and deal with the initial shock of serious situations in a calm, caring and professional manner in order to get the needed help as quickly as possible.

“Police and fire can’t do what they do without our dispatchers being there first.”

Several area officials pointed out the skill it takes to multi-task as a dispatcher. It isn’t just answering a phone and contacting the department with an address, but it is an approach and state of mind.

“Spend any amount of time in a local dispatch center and you’ll see how much work is accomplished in a very compressed timeframe – the amount of multi-tasking they do is just incredible, all the while remaining calm and gathering valuable information despite the chaos that is on the other end of the phone call,” Willoughby Fire Chief Todd Ungar said.

“We ask them to do a lot and it must be frustrating at times to only hear what we are doing and not be able to visualize what is going on at an emergency scene,” he added. “Our dispatchers are truly resourceful and I respect what they do in a similar manner as a musician. It’s one level of talent to be able to play an instrument or sing, but an entirely different skill set to do both at the same time.

“That’s what our communications staff does and they are extremely good at it.”

Former Richmond Heights Police Chief and current University Circle Chief Tom Wetzel served as a dispatcher early in his career and referred to it as a kind of highly-skilled “juggling” act.

“I learned fast that to be a good dispatcher, you must excel at juggling,” Wetzel said. “That juggling could include working emergency phone calls, operating a computer and answering a police radio, with the possibility of someone at the front window asking questions. It could get crazy at times and I later reflected on the differences with being a dispatcher and a police officer.

“Their voices are truly a lifeline and sometimes may be the last voice an officer ever hears if killed in the line of duty,” he added. “That is quite a responsibility and may be why many dispatchers may struggle from anxiety, exhaustion, fear and debilitating stress. …. They pay a big price to help others but if you ask most of them why they do the job, they will tell you that they like to help people.”

Euclid Fire Chief Jay Womack said dispatchers in some ways paint the initial picture that the department has to answer to.

“We rely on our dispatchers so much to get an accurate picture of what we are responding to for many reasons,” Womack said. “This information tells us if we need to upgrade our response with more units, request mutual aid, request police and locate our caller so we arrive (ASAP).

“This is the first person that the caller is speaking too post incident so the dispatcher has to difficult job of having the caller put into words what exactly the situation is,” he added. “How the call is put out determines so much of our response plan. Their job can be overwhelming and often overlooked in the emergency services.”

Willoughby Assistant Police Chief Matt Tartaglia said the department does its best to get the telecommunication workers out for community events so residents can recognize who they so often rely on to get information to the officers.

“From locking keys in the car to violent crimes, they answer all kinds of calls and never see the outcome,” Tartaglia said. “Their job is on to helping out next person and it takes a certain kind of person, civic minded, passionate, assertive all at the same time under immense pressure.

“They are certainly underrecognized and the reasoning behind having the telecommunications appreciation week is important because, what about these people sitting inside a room,” he added. “They need to be recognized for achievements.”

Willowick Police Lt. Keith Lawrence recognizes without call center workers, officers could not offer the level of safety they are able to now.

“Without them, we would be operating at a tremendous disadvantage,” Lawrence said. “Dispatchers often perform a thankless job that is out of the spotlight. Their ability to maintain calm in a stressful situation and still direct resources while multi-tasking at a high level is invaluable to any police or fire department as well as the entire community.”

Several area departments expressed their gratitude to dispatchers with posts on social media. Most echoed the comments that the workers in the call centers and essential and sometimes go unrecognized.

Willoughby Hills Fire Chief Rob Gandee said he sometimes marvels at the skills they possess do a somewhat thankless job out of the spotlight and it is difficult to find capable workers to fill the position.

“The amount of knowledge, skills and ability is immense,” Gandee said. “To find good people centers on finding qualified people to multitask, remain calm, provide instructions and more. It is a significant responsibility.”

Mentor Fire Chief Robert Searles said he continues to be impressed by the skill and compassion dispatchers display on a regular basis and that their resume should include descriptions well beyond simply answering emergency phone calls.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and have seen some amazing work from our Communications Center and often they are the unsung heroes of our public safety delivery system,” Searles said. “During emergency calls, today’s dispatchers are responsible to know all our run procedures and almost instinctively determine what is happening on the other end of the phone, often when the caller s are frantic and distraught. We ask a lot from our dispatchers and they do a great job taking care of all of us.”

Mayfield Heights Police Chief Anthony Mele acknowledged for several reasons dispatcher is not an easy position to fill at the department and there is no denying they can be as important to the community in an emergency as a police officer, firefighter or paramedic.

“Good dispatchers have certain character traits and skills such as patience, the ability to remain calm during highly stressful situations, multi-tasking, good listening skills, compassion and confidence,” Mele said. “The dispatch center can be very chaotic and stressful at times. The job isn’t for everyone.”