What is it about people who work in 911 that makes them unique?
I was recently asked this question during the Q&A portion of a presentation I had given to a group of business professionals about our industry in which I discussed the makeup of those who choose it as a career.
Throughout the session, I sought to portray the individuals who work in 911 as they truly are: singularly focused, deeply dedicated and imbued with a profoundly hilarious (and often borderline inappropriate) sense of humor.
As the session ended, I summed up dispatchers this way: “You will find no more unique group of people coalesced around a more difficult job that asks more of them then the men and women of 911.”
Then came the Q&A and the question that I’ve been thinking about ever since.
What is it about people who work in 911 that makes them unique?
The answers seem far too numerous to answer definitively.
For the sake of brevity, here are three.
They weren’t public safety focused. Until they were.
If you’ve ever worked a shift in dispatch, you have likely worked with a hodgepodge of people more assorted than a bag of mixed nuts. A typical group of dispatchers is likely to made up of some variation on the following: a hairdresser, a teacher, a masseuse, a drive-thru manager, a vacuum salesperson and a chiropractor (all real examples, by the way). Finding someone who had their sights set on a dispatch career from a young age is about as likely as finding definitive proof of Bigfoot.
911 centers seem to be a gathering place for people who aren’t sure what they want to do, but they all have a particular set of skills – with apologies to Liam Neeson – that make them perfect for what the job requires. They’re social, customer service-driven multitaskers with the capacity to keep moving forward in the face of never-ending technology upgrades, overwhelming call loads and a nearly impossible expectation of mistake-free work in the middle of it all. To have the aptitude to evolve from selling residential siding to setting up a perimeter on a police radio a year or so later? That makes them unique.
Where chaos reigns, they flourish.
Dispatchers have a knack for taking control in situations that have gone completely off the rails. 911 calls featuring active assaults, heated domestic disturbances, shots fired or real-time deaths creating chaotic, emotion-driven hysteria that must be corralled in order to get help to the scene fast. For most people, the thought of trying to navigate these scenarios is nightmare fuel sure to kick in the ‘flight’ element in the ‘fight or flight’ response. It’s fair to say that is the normal response, in fact. For 911 dispatchers? Another day at the office, and on to the next call afterward. That makes them unique.
They are driven by a deeper purpose.
If you’ve ever met a person who chose 911 for the money, you’ve met one more than I ever have. The reward of Monday through Friday with weekends and holidays off is certainly not part of the draw. Being under a constant microscope which seems to exist just to find the one mistake among 1,000 error-free transactions was certainly not a prominent feature of the initial recruiting pitch. Despite everything that appears to be working against 911 as a rewarding, lasting career, the people doing it over the long haul remain uniquely driven to be great at it.
Why? 911 dispatchers are reflexive caretakers. They become fiercely protective of those they serve, and that safeguarding becomes the driver for everything they do. The people of 911 come to work to make a difference without huge salaries or excessive fanfare, and they often do so without acknowledgment they are an integral part of a public safety apparatus that desperately depends on them to be great. That makes them unique.
If you know a 911 dispatcher, you know that they just seem to be wired differently; they have a unique insight into people that seems beyond the norm and they possess a distinctive intelligence that sets them apart. They’re just . . . different. In lots of interesting ways.
But what is it about people who work in 911 that makes them unique?
They’re the best of us.
When we need them the most and notice them the least.
That makes them unique.
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.