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On Wendy Mann's first day as a 911 dispatcher 22 years ago, someone called in sick and she had to work the night shift alone. At 2 a.m., a woman called and said her husband had died in his sleep.
Mann panicked. "Even though it was right in front of me, I couldn't find her street on the map and didn't know what fire department to send. But the lady calmed me down and gave me directions. The paramedics got there, but she was the one who calmed me down. I don't know if she was in shock or what, but at that moment I knew that would never happen again."
Mann, communications shift leader, said that's when she realized the impact she could have as a dispatcher, and that without her, the police, firefighters and paramedics couldn't do their jobs.
"Communications, this is Wendy," Mann said into her headset on April 16 at Gurnee Police Department. A woman was calling to make sure a suspect in her neighborhood had been apprehended.
Moments later, Gurnee firefighters came in carrying bags from Saludo's. "We come bearing gifts of calories," one firefighter joked.
The third week of April was National Public Safety Telecommunicators week, and April was 911 Education month. Although Gurnee dispatchers regularly talk to Gurnee firefighters over the phone, it's rare for them to meet face-to-face, so they stopped by to show their appreciation.
In general, 911 dispatchers don't hear words of gratitude, Mann said. "No one calls to say hello or thank you. Most people are calling us on the worst day of their lives.
"A common misconception is that people think we're secretaries or this is a stepping stone to being a police officer, but this is a career," said Mann, who has been dispatching for Gurnee almost 16 years, working as a dispatcher before that in Lake Zurich.
Mann said most people don't know that the dispatchers aren't sworn in, and didn't go to police academy; in fact, they have to take classes for nine months to a year, double the amount of time a police officer trains.
Gurnee's 14 telecommunicators answer calls for Gurnee Police Department, Gurnee Fire Department and Newport Fire Protection District in Wadsworth. Mann said the recent Newport Elementary school bus crash is an example of how the Gurnee dispatchers collaborate frequently with other agencies.
Molly Jones, dispatcher for nine years, said the bus crash was "like a horror movie. It was terrifying after the thought," with people in the background crying or trying to help. Mann said, "You don't see the scene. We hear the background noise, and have to base everything on what we hear."
Mann said as a dispatcher, she can look at crisis situations like the Boston Marathon explosions differently. She was disturbed by the initial reports of cell towers shutting down. "We had incidents like that where we lost communications," Mann said, citing a Black Friday a couple years ago.
The communications unit is required to have a minimum of two dispatchers per 12-hour shift. The dispatchers alternate working their 12-hour shifts (without breaks) for five days a week, then two days the next week. "We eat at our consoles, and if you have to go to the bathroom, you run," Mann said.
She said when people call during an emergency, they need to realize the dispatcher is required to ask a lot of questions to help, but meanwhile they've already dispatched police, firefighters or paramedics.
"The response time [before police or fire arrive] is five minutes, but a lot can happen in five minutes," Mann said. That's why dispatchers have detailed instructions on ways to respond to each crisis in their Emergency Medical Dispatch books. In fact, Mann said she has delivered two babies over the phone during her shift.
Mann said the worst calls have come on Tuesday nights. "You'd think weekends and full moons. Full moons do something though. Some of our weirdest calls are during full moons."
The dispatchers sometimes receive weird or funny calls, like someone talking to the Queen of England on their TV, or asking the dispatchers what temperature to cook a pot roast.
"But then there are the really bad calls. Any call involving a child really tugs at your heart, those are the worst," Mann said, adding that children are the best callers, however, because they answer truthfully and usually do not understand the bigger consequences or meaning of the situation at hand.
Jones said her worst call was when a man died on the phone with her. Lisa Crum-Cliff, dispatcher of 24 years, said she was once on the line during a triple homicide and suicide.
It's in the dispatchers' nature to be calm and patient, Mann said. They go into emergency mode and don't have time to react emotionally.
Mann said, "You make a very intimate connection with the person on the other end in that five-minute response time. But you don't get the closure of what happened to them. We can ask the police and fire department what happened, but that's usually where it ends."
Dispatchers answer emergency and non-emergency calls. There are typical calls, like broken down cars or falling off a bike. But Mann wishes more people would call right away when they see something suspicious.
Mann said video calls will be the next generation of dispatching, but it's a complicated and decades-long process. "Many people think you can text 911, and you can't. Some [phone service] carriers in some areas provide it, but 911 systems can't receive video or calls over the Internet," she said.
"It would cost cellular companies millions of dollars [to provide video 911 calls.] The Federal Communications Commission had to get involved when cell phones came about, because we would only get the location of the [cellular] tower."