Calling All 9-1-1 Dispatchers!

A project by Within the Trenches Podcast Facebook Page Admin Shae. Two years ago, I shared an article where the state of Tennessee was looking at making the status of their 911 Dispatchers “public safety” employees rather than “office clerical”.

And someone suggested that I was “denigrating” secretaries everywhere with this information. An article mind you, not written by me.

That struck a nerve with me then, and it’s still something that bothers me now. Not her words so much, but the fact that it’s two years later and we’re no closer to being realized for who we really are - the first, first responders.

So as a tribute to us, I’m asking for dispatch agencies all across the globe to send us a picture from your agency of what it really looks like in the throws of dispatch. Within the Trenches.

I’m asking for realistic, preferably candid photos of you or your team members, taken in your center. I want to tell a story through pictures, the heartache of hearing someone’s last breath, the helplessness of hearing the phone clatter to the ground - unable to help the person on the other end, the exhaustion on the faces of dispatchers after tragedy found their community.

I want people to watch this video and see in our faces that we are more than “just” secretaries. We are the first, first-responders. #IAM911

A few rules:

• No up close views of your CAD
• Realistic, preferably candid photos. (no smiling group photos for this project)
• Send your photos to the page or email them to wttpodcast@gmail.com