JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – 911 dispatchers in Jefferson County have a new tool to deal with the unique challenges of the job.
A peer support team is now in place to help when a telecommunicator handles a tragic or critical stress incident.
The team is made up of trained telecommunicators who understand the nature of the job. Participation in the program is voluntary.
“We are the first, first responders. We got to make sure that our people are healthy,” Jefferson County 911 Chief John Whitehead said.
Telecommunicators are the first line of contact for those in crisis. The constant exposure to calls involving domestic violence, homicides and other serious cases can take an emotional toll on dispatchers.
“Child deaths are the worst. Everyone can relate that to someone. Instances that deal with people in the public that you know,” Mike Prater said. Prater is the coordinator for the 911 Peer Support Team.
The stakes are high considering the volume and seriousness of calls fielded by Jefferson County 911 Dispatch. It provides emergency communication services for nine agencies, 16 fire protection districts, and five ambulance districts.
One particular call they will never forget was from Dec. 5, 2017.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Michelle Caraway said. Caraway was the supervisor at Jefferson County 911 the day Arnold police Officer Ryan O’Connor was shot in the line of duty.
“We didn’t have the peer support team at the time,” she said. “We had what they would call a debriefing. Where we went with the police department, ambulance, and the fire department. And you shared how you felt, what it did, stuff like that. But we didn’t have a peer support team to go to and discuss the incident.”
O’Connor survived and, in a special way, created a brand-new memory for Caraway and the team at Jefferson County 911. He recently visited the staff to thank them for helping save his life that fateful day.
“You saved me,” he told them.
It was the first time Caraway and others met O’Connor.
“I didn’t expect to get so emotional, but it’s great to see his progress,” she said.
Chief Whitehead said that special connection highlights the importance of putting a priority on the mental health of telecommunicators.
“When someone calls 911, and they’re getting an operator, not only is that operator trained, we take care of that. That operator is experienced. We take care of that,” he said. “But now you’ve also got that mental health capacity on the side of the responder who is actually answering that call. They continue to empathize. And they’re part of that incident. To make sure that they’re grabbing all of the data that they need. To make sure our other responders can get to the incident and go from there.”