Rachel Baldwin | Daily News

Tony Christian and Christina Endicott are pictured manning their computers at the Mingo County 911 Headquarters in Williamson. The dispatchers are two of the 11 employees who are the voices on the other end of the phone line when you find yourself in an emergency situation and are in need of assistance.

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Rachel Baldwin

Staff Writer

WILLIAMSON - “Someone once asked if I felt that answering telephones for a living was a true profession. My reply was that I thought it was a calling,” stated Doug Goolsby, a Paramedic and a dispatcher with Mingo County 911 services. “The dispatchers I work hand in hand with are the true definition of what that calling means.”

The Mingo County 911 dispatchers are made up of 11 employees, both males and females, who have averaged a 5 year stint doing their job. Willie Spence, Tony Christian, Doug Goolsby, Matt Bucci, Christina Endicott, Anthony Davis, Amanda Kennedy, John Stacey, Monica Hinkle, Paul Miller and Tony Dixon are dedicated to serving the needs of Mingo County and are the voice on the phone when you find yourself in need.

Dispatchers are the unsung heroes of public safety. They miss the excitement of riding in a speeding car with lights flashing and sirens wailing. They can only hear of the bright orange flames leaping from a burning building. They do not get to see the joy on the face of worried parents as they see their child begin breathing on its own, after it has been given CPR.

Dispatchers sit in darkened rooms looking at computer screens and talking to voices from faces they never see. It’s like reading a lot of books, but only half of each one.

Dispatchers connect the anxious conversations of terrified victims, angry informants, suicidal citizens and officers who may be having a bad day. They are the calming influence of all of them - the quiet, competent voices in the night that provide the pillars for the bridges of sanity and safety. They are expected to gather information from highly agitated people who can’t remember where they live, what their name is, or what they just saw. And then, they are to calmly provide all that information to the officers, firefighters, or paramedics without error the first time and every time.

Dispatchers are expected to be able to do five things at once - and do them well. While questioning a frantic caller, they must type the information into a computer, tip off another dispatcher, put another caller on hold, and listen to an officer run a plate for a parking problem. To miss the plate numbers is to raise the officer’s ire; to miss the caller’s information may be to endanger the same officer’s life. But, the officer continues to do his job, not truly understanding what the dispatchers are doing for him.

Dispatchers have two constant companions, other dispatchers and stress. They depend on one, and try to ignore the other. They are chastened by upset callers, taken for granted by everyone until they are the ones needing assistance. They are criticized by the public, and at times, even by the officers. The rewards they get are inexpensive and infrequent, except for the satisfaction they feel at the end of a shift, having done what they were expected to do.

Dispatchers come in all shapes and sizes, all races, both sexes, and all ages. They are blondes, and brunettes, and redheads. They are quiet and outgoing, single, or married, plain, beautiful, or handsome. No two are alike, yet they are all the same.

They are people who were selected in a difficult hiring process to do an impossible job. They are as different as snowflakes, but they have one thing in common. They care about people and they enjoy being the lifeline of society - that steady voice in a storm - the one who knows how to handle every emergency and does it with style and grace; and, uncompromised competence.

Dispatchers play many roles: therapist, doctor, lawyer, teacher, weatherman, guidance counselor, psychologist, priest, secretary, supervisor, politician, and reporter. And few people must jump through the emotional hoops on the trip through the joy of one caller’s birthday party, to the fear of another caller’s burglary in progress, to the anger of a neighbor blocked in their drive, and back to the birthday caller all in a two-minute time frame. The emotional rollercoaster rolls to a stop after an 8 or 10 hour shift, and they are expected to walk down to their car with steady feet and no queasiness in their stomach-because they are dispatchers. If they hold it in, they are too closed. If they talk about it, they are a whiner. If it bothers them, it adds more stress. If it doesn’t, they question themselves, wondering why.

Dispatchers are expected to have the compassion of Mother Theresa, the wisdom of Solomon, the interviewing skills of Oprah Winfrey, the gentleness of Florence Nightingale, the patience of Job, the voice of Barbara Streisand, the knowledge of Einstein, the answers of Ann Landers, the humor of David Letterman, the investigative skills of Sgt. Joe Friday, the looks of Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, the faith of Billy Graham, the energy of a 2 year-old hyped up on chocolate and the endurance of the Energizer Bunny .

Is it any wonder that many drop out during training? It is a unique and talented person who can do this job and do it well. And, it is fitting and proper that we take a few minutes or hours this week to honor you for the job that each of you do. That recognition is overdue and it is insufficient. But, it is sincere. It takes a special person with unique skills.

“There’s no such thing as a hot meal or a finished conversation on this job,” stated Tony Christian. “But what we do, we do willingly. We care about each and every person that calls for help. We will do our very best to get you police, fire department personnel, EMS, whatever you need to take care of your emergency in the least amount of time possible.”

“We’re a family here, we care about each other and look out for one another,” said Christina Endicott. “That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

The Daily News admires all 911 dispatchers throughout the Tug Valley area, and thanks them for the thankless job they perform. Dispatchers are heroes, and we are proud to know that should an emergency arrive in any of our lives, it will be their voice we hear on the other end of the line, calmly instructing us and getting help to us as quickly as possible.