Finding Closure for Public Safety Dispatchers
PICTURED ABOVE
Former Kentucky State Police Dispatcher Jennifer McCracken said a lack of closure weighs heavily on telecommunicators. (Photo by Jim Robertson)
Whenever they answer a 911 call, public safety dispatchers know odds are high that the person on the other end is experiencing their worst day imaginable. Those emotionally charged calls can be accompanied by a volley of gunfire in the background, yelling, babies crying, sounds of physical abuse and sometimes a dreadful silence.
“You hear that on the phone,” former Kentucky State Police Dispatcher Jennifer McCracken said. “You're trying to calm them down enough to be able to get enough information to find out what's going on.”
Often, public safety dispatchers are not privy to the outcome of a call, and that causes their minds to race with “a movie playing in your mind,” as McCracken – who spent 17 and a half years with a headset – described it.
In western Kentucky, 17-year dispatcher veteran Blake Smith, stationed at KSP Post 16 in Henderson, said there have been plenty of times when he has wondered what he could have said or done differently.
Kentucky State Police Dispatcher Blake Smith. (Photo provided)
“I think anyone in emergency services does,” Smith said. “It’s because we don’t get the closure that the units responding to calls do, which adds to the effect.”
What Smith and McCracken described is a common symptom of post-traumatic stress, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI estimates that 18-24% of public safety dispatchers nationwide suffer from post-traumatic stress.
“They don't see the end of the (call) or anything to give them any type of closure to that movie that was in their mind,” McCracken explained. “So that may be playing over and over and over. And then you've got another traumatic call coming in, and that movie is playing on top of that one. So, if you apply five to six years of all those traumatic experiences on top of each other, And you've never offered that dispatcher any outlet or given them any type of assistance, they're either going to get burnt out or they're going to have to be given medication for depression. Or they might quit because they can't take it anymore.”
Lack of Closure
The lack of closure adds stress on top of an already stressful situation and profession, said Sarah Powell, a Department of Criminal Justice Training law enforcement instructor in the Resiliency Section and Professional Development Wellness Program, and herself a former eight-year veteran dispatcher in Lawrenceburg
Department of Criminal Justice Training law enforcement instructor Sarah Powell. (Photo by Jim Robertson)
“Many times, dispatchers don't hear the end of the call, and it doesn't trigger the signal to the brain for the stress response to end that the threat is over,” Powell explained. “To be a good dispatcher, we visualize the scene and what's happening. That way, we can figure out what types of questions we need to ask to give that information to our responders, so they're better prepared before going into it. While that makes us good dispatchers, it also affects our imaginations regarding traumatic situations. We're visualizing these horrific incidents, traumas, and scenes in our minds.”
DOCJT Mental Health Professional Angela Childers said post-traumatic stress is not a disorder but rather an injury. Additionally, Childers said a build-up over time with traumatic calls can cause PTSD, or it could be a call that the dispatcher can relate to on a personal level.
Department of Criminal Justice Training Mental Health Professional Angela Childers. (Photo by Jim Robertson)
“Typically, it's the one or two (calls) that somehow are connected to their lives or somehow affiliated, whether it be a similar situation they've been in or maybe they have a child the same age,” Childers explained. “It can be something that may be associated with their stressors at home, so that when this comes up, it will just kind of crash together.”
For Smith, it was a call he took early in his career when he worked for McClean County.
“I had somebody shoot themselves while they were on the phone with me,” Smith said. “I think the individual already made up his mind, and they just wanted someone to find the body.”
That is what happened to McCracken in 2010 when she found herself involved in a fatality wreck.
“There was an accident that happened in front of me,” she said. “It ejected somebody, and I struck that person. So, I was dealing with that and then with my mother’s death.
“Then the everyday calls,” she continued. “You have a fatal car wreck in one county, and you might have a homicide in another county, and you got all this (personal) stuff going on and trying to get your mind to where it’s OK. In reality, your mind is going in different directions.”
Smith said dispatchers often replay events over in their minds and second guess themselves.
“You try to figure out what you could have done differently,” he said. “You wonder if there was something I could have done that would have changed the outcome.”
KYPCIS and Peer Support
Oftentimes, a breaking point eventually occurs, and help is needed. That is where peer support and programs such as the Kentucky Post Critical Incident Seminar (KYPCIS) can help.
“If the leadership is aware of what the dispatcher is going through, and paying attention to the calls coming through, offering peer support and checking in with them, it can help,” Childers said.
Signs of possible PTSD include:
Irritability
Not sleeping
Hypervigilance
Heightened anxiety
Obsession with work
“(Dispatchers) work, work and work, because a lot of them, as is the case with law enforcement, have that fear that if they slow down (the trauma) will catch up with them,” Childers explained. “But I would say irritability is a huge factor and the one that stands out the most.”
Powell added that a sharp decline in work performance or increased complaints can also be associated with signs of PTSD.
The KYPCIS three-day seminar, modeled after highly successful programs developed by the FBI and South Carolina, is led by mental health professionals who are trained to work with peace officers and driven by a team of law enforcement and public safety dispatch peers who have experienced their own critical incident and have received training in Critical Incident Stress Management.
KYPCIS is a lifeline for those who suffer in silence, McCracken said. She went through the program in 2018 and became an advocate as a result.
“When I went through [KYPCIS], I was the only dispatcher,” she said. “Now I’m hearing that four or five dispatchers are going through each class. I think it's wonderful.
“I talk about it as much as possible, and I promoted it on social media,” McCracken continued. “That’s because many people I’m friends with on social media are fellow dispatchers and police officers. I tell them, you do not have to suffer in silence. There's no reason for you to do that. In the old days, you were forced to. Now, you can get the help you need with people who know what you're going through.”
Smith, who hasn’t been through KYPCIS as of April 2024, said there are several resources dispatchers can utilize to help them cope with PTSD.
“We have yearly training, and there are other avenues we can reach out to,” Smith said. “Programs such as KYPCIS, employee assistance programs and the health and wellness division within the Kentucky State Police. These (peers) have gone through the same things we have, and they know how we feel because they have been in our shoes.”
Education
Smith added that with the advancement in education regarding dispatchers and PTSD, there is no reason for dispatchers to “build up a wall around our emotions.”
“Any type of emergency services job is difficult,” he said. “There are avenues you can utilize, and I feel like they should.”
In recent years, with programs such as KYPCIS and peer support groups, there is a better understanding of how trauma affects public safety dispatchers. Still, there is always room for improvement, Childers said.
“It's important that people understand that, even if they are showing signs of PTSD, there are treatments,” Childers stressed. “Along with peer support, there are things they can do to reduce the chances of fully developing the diagnosis, or you can get diagnosed with it; it's not like a life sentence.
“There are things you can do to improve your functioning,” Childers continued. “It's not as if it happens and you’re stuck, and you have PTSD now, and you're never going to be able to function within normal limits. The earlier we catch it, the better. I think, in general, especially with KYPCIS, people have more of an awareness.”
Childers also said even if a dispatcher doesn’t know about the avenues of help, supervisors at the many different agencies throughout Kentucky are aware of it.
“The education about it is significant,” she said. “You can't unhear what you heard (over the phone). But for the most part, education is significant, and it's just helping people better understand because we talk about it way more than we did before.”
Normal Response to Abnormal Experiences
Powell stressed that public safety dispatchers are not alone in what they are feeling and experiencing.
“There is help now,” she said. “There are resources, and there’s hope.”
Having negative thoughts and feelings is normal because you are human.
“You're not just a bad dispatcher or in the wrong field if something affects you,” Childers said. “It means you’re human. It's OK that you feel what you're feeling or say, ‘Hey, when I had that call, this is what I felt like.’ That’s just normal. It's normal to feel; that means you care. It means you're human; it doesn't mean you're not supposed to be a dispatcher. They're human and have a normal response to abnormal exposure.”
