It’s rare that we get the opportunity to peek behind the proverbial curtain, where all pretense is stripped away, to reveal the granular truth of who someone is.

What people do when no one is looking is often a reflection of what they’re truly made of and where their real motivations lie.

In some cases – The Wizard of Oz comes immediately to mind – a peek behind the curtain reveals little more than smoke and mirrors.

In 911 communications centers, where dispatchers are already doing fantastic work that isn’t noticed as often as it should be, a glimpse behind the scenes reveals profound examples of selfless dedication and quiet generosity that virtually no one hears about.

I’m talking about things that dispatchers do “off book.” Discreet, mostly unobserved efforts to help citizens, responders or coworkers in need that no one would know about if someone else hadn’t inadvertently seen or heard it as it happened.

I call it quiet compassion. Taking care of others – often strangers – simply because they need help.

It is here, when they least expect to be recompensed for their efforts, that the people of 911 set themselves apart.

I know because I’ve had an insider’s perspective – and what I’ve seen dispatchers do, quietly and without any expectation of reciprocation or reward — still leaves me fumbling for words when I think about it.

If you’ve worked in a comm center, you know because you’ve seen or done these things, too.

Here are just a few of the many behind the scenes moments that I have come across over the course of my career. In most of these cases, I was told by someone who saw or heard them as they happened.

• On evening shift, a dispatcher had been asked by an officer to call a citizen to arrange a tow. The citizen, a struggling single mother, was extremely upset and couldn’t afford the tow, so the dispatcher (a single mom herself) quietly ordered and paid for it on her personal credit card.
• A dispatcher had been dealing with a domestic violence call in which a mother and several young children had escaped their abuser and fled to our city, finding themselves in a seedy motel amid unfamiliar surroundings. The mother was terrified and emotional. Without fanfare, our dispatcher used her own vacation time to go to the motel and help the mother with her children as she was interviewed by police. She also purchased diapers and groceries for her on the way there.
• One of our supervisors had taken a motor vehicle accident call from a child who, along with her younger brother, were being driven by their mother’s intoxicated boyfriend. Both children were injured in the accident. The supervisor kept track of the kids, found that they had a troubled homelife (and two additional siblings), and became involved with them – celebrating their birthdays and even bringing them to her home for meals. The state ultimately took custody of the children, which sadly made continued contact nearly impossible – but the supervisor had come to think of these kids as her own, and, for a small moment in time, made an enormous difference in the lives of children in desperate need of it.

Each of these examples – dispatchers caring for complete strangers – exposes the beating heart of 911. And the many examples of the people of 911 helping each other – from caring for a coworker’s children while they are undergoing cancer treatments, paying a fellow dispatcher’s mortgage for three months to help them get through tough times, or driving to a new employee’s house to sit with them after a death in the family – further expose the depth of caring beneath the sometimes gruff exterior of public safety professionals in emergency communications.

These examples just scratch the surface.

I strongly suspect that you are both nodding as you read these and thinking of multiple examples of your own.

Despite all the oft-spun accounts of bad culture, turnover, overtime and underpay, one fact in 9-1-1 remains:

Behind the curtain, under the surface, usually surreptitiously and typically with little notice, quiet compassion endures. It extends beyond what is required to do the job, and it happens every day, on all shifts.

The actions that we know of are incredibly inspiring.

The many more that we never hear about are likely even more so.

Nothing reveals more about what the people of 911 are truly made of and where their real motivations lie.

About Kris Inman:

Kris Inman is the Director of Program Development for The Healthy Dispatcher. A 29-year veteran of 9-1-1, Kris retired in July 2023 as Director of Springfield Greene County 9-1-1 in Springfield, MO. An awarded speaker and instructor, Kris has delivered standout educational sessions, keynotes, motivational talks and yoga instruction to dispatchers across the country. He is also a long-time college adjunct instructor, teaching courses in communication and public safety leadership. Kris holds a Master of Arts in Communication and a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media from Missouri State University. He is also a registered yoga instructor.