Kelly Blanch, dispatcher at Red Deer Emergency Services for 17 years. (Alessia Proietti/rdnewsNOW)

By Alessia Proietti

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

The other end of the line: Appreciating Red Deer Emergency dispatchers

Apr 13, 2022 | 12:33 PM

If there’s something strange in your neighbourhood, who are you going to call? A dispatcher.

On the other end of a 9-1-1 call is a Red Deer Emergency Services (RDES) employee, doing what they can to help.

Although debate remains on the emergency ambulance dispatch changes from 2020, what hasn’t changed are the locals working behind the scene.

READ: Mayor not letting up fight for local EMS dispatch service

April 11-17 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and an opportunity to meet just a few of the roughly 40 dispatchers at RDES.

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Matt White, Assistant Deputy Chief for the City of Red Deer, confirmed these employees report to about 430,000 Central Albertans, 70 fire departments, and 45 radio stations, ranging from Clearwater County to the Saskatchewan border.

A typical day begins at the recently renovated fire station converted into the city’s 9-1-1 emergency communication centre. The gold fire pole still stands in the corner and a Canadian flag hangs with a golden line across representing emergency dispatchers. The room is calmingly silent, as up to seven employees work in this room at a time, each a 12 hour shift, with several computer screens per desk.

Red Deer Emergency Services dispatch centre with Amy Boult, Cody Murray and Marie LaGrange. (from left to right) (Alessia Proietti/rdnewsNOW)

On Tuesday, three dispatchers were taking 9-1-1 calls, and two were working as fire dispatchers. Each call is picked up within the first 15 seconds 90 per cent of the time, White says, and resolved within 90 seconds.

The types of people that work here have a set of qualities according to White: a team player, ability to work under pressure, and communication skills. Amy Boult demonstrated these qualities, as she was Tuesday’s On-Floor Supervisor and Qualified Communications Officer.

And when these people arrive, they mostly stay for the long haul, according to White. He says RDES hires between two to six dispatchers per year, and some, like Kelly Blanch, have been there for the past 17 years.

Blanch began her career in emergency dispatch in her 40’s after working in the newspaper industry, transferring her skills in questioning.

“I think the common trait we all have is we want to help people,” she said.

Dallas Pfeifer agreed. After working as a paralegal, the mother of two loved the diverse and humbling days of dispatching.

Some days include an influx of calls for the same incident, which dispatchers must confirm. Unregistered phones still have the ability to call 9-1-1, and White confirms they do. Other days consist of accidental calls where people hang up in a panic. White urges residents to explain the mistake first or else a dispatcher must track the caller down for confirmation.

READ: Red Deer 911 dispatch receives thousands of accidental calls monthly

And some days, young children call 9-1-1 in a desperate need for help with their math homework, says Pfeifer. Other days, a teenager calls in a difficult situation.

“If you’re able to make them feel better and feel like somebody’s always there for them then that’s kind of the biggest part,” she said.

Marie LaGrange knew about the emergency worker lifestyle early on, with a police officer for a father and two brothers in the field. Now paving her own path, she says the position helped her understand the different facets of the job and the impacts it can have on its workers.

“You kind of understand what they’re going through, why sometimes they don’t want to talk or why they need their space,” she said. “Hearing the things you hear on the radio and on the phone, it’s scary to send first responders to scene.”

Cody Murray also grew up with parents in the field and says his coworkers now feel like a second family. Working as a team almost every shift, he says it makes it all worth it.

“You feel like you did something. Even if you weren’t on site or on the scene of anything going on, you still got to feel the emotion of the scene. When things go right and the way you want, it feels really good going home,” he said.

The Alberta RCMP also recognized the work of their staff in Operational Communications Centres.

“With more than 796,000 calls for service recorded in the past year, we remind citizens to be mindful that emergency communications centres are busy at all hours with incoming calls about public safety,” officials said in a release.

There are 26 emergency dispatch centres in the province, two for Alberta RCMP and three for Emergency Medical Services (EMS).