Denice Marciner

Trigger warning: Please note that the following call for service involves a juvenile. If you may be sensitive to this type of matter please take note of this and proceed with caution. No names will be used. Welcome to my dispatch troll mind.

When I first started my career as a dispatcher – it was a completely different environment from the hospital one I had become familiar with. On this particular day I have a different trainer than my normal one – she’s listening but she’s sitting on the other side of the room. This is great – she trust that I am able to handle myself, do the bare minimum of my job, and not kill anyone.

And for the most part – I was. But when I got this call it was as if I forgot everything I learned.

I answer the call like normal, “911 what is the location of your emergency?”

I get the address and immediately mom follows up with, “my baby is choking and turning blue.”

Way to raise the stakes. This is not only the first choking call I’ve taken – but it’s also the first child call. So naturally I am frozen. I know there are questions I’m supposed to ask. I’ve been asking them for the last 8 weeks. But for some reason my lips are flopping like a fish out of water.

Sometime when trainee’s are in training there’s a look they get – a blank stare where nothing is happening at home – I had it. I know I had it. My trainer says from across the room, “How old is your baby?”

And I repeated it to the caller.

And then she asked, “Is she awake?”

And I repeated it to the caller.

And then she asked, “Is she breathing?”

And again I repeated it to the caller. At the same time she walking over to me.

The baby was just a few months old, they were awake, and they were having difficulty breathing.

By the time I disconnected with this caller – all I could do was look up at my trainer and thank her. I could not believe I froze. And until the end of my career as a dispatcher I kept a small flip book with those questions inside. Because I’ll be damned if I forget them again.

I know it sucks I made you wait all the way until the end to know if the baby is ok and what happened. And the truth is – I don’t know. I know they transported to the hospital. But as a dispatcher we don’t get an ending to every call. I can only infer that since the deputies did not call out a Code 50 that everything ended ok. That’s what it means to be a dispatcher. Welcome to the ways of a dispatch troll.