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Many changes in dispatching during England's 30 years
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By SCOTT WARTMAN-Staff Writer
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AUGUSTA - Even though she retired as Bracken County dispatch supervisor last month, the murmur of the emergency frequency scanner can still be heard in Marie England's home.
While England still likes to keep up with what is going on in Bracken County, she said she won't miss the long hours she put in during her 30 years as a Bracken County dispatcher. Bracken County will honor her with a retirement party on Sunday in the band room at Augusta Independent School.
Today, there are eight trained dispatchers at the center in Brooksville, which is equipped with computer-based enhanced 911 technology. In 1972 when England started as dispatcher, she worked alone in her house with one phone and one radio.
At first, England said she was nervous about the job since she had no medical or emergency training. Being a mom and raising two children, however, England said the job attracted her since she could stay at home. She didn't realize, however, that would eventually mean she would have to stay at home more than she wished to.
At first, calls were sparse, England said, with a few drunken fights and domestic disputes. After she expanded from taking just police calls to ambulance calls in 1982, England said she received another phone and radio and many more calls. Eventually, it wasn't unusual to receive 50 to 75 calls in a day. From 1982 to 1996, England said she never left the house for more than 12 hours a week. Since calls came at all hours, England said vigilance was the key to the job.
"If I had no sleep one night, I didn't sleep well the next day for fear of missing a call," England said.
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| Marie England recalls her time spent as a Bracken County dispatcher during an interview at her home in Augusta. England retired after 30 years serving as dispatcher. Brian Hitch/Staff
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Kentucky 9 has also added a lot of emergency calls, she said.
Vacations were nonexistent, said Marie England's daughter Gretchen England.
"We didn't get to go many places much when we were young," Gretchen England said.
To help her out, Marie England said she hired some help to fill in for her during the 12 hours a week she was out of the house.
Current dispatcher and EMS Director Betty McClanahan worked with Marie England for 22 years, and said she had a special talent for handling stressful situations. When she worked as an EMS, McClanahan said Marie England had grace under fire when coordinating emergency runs.
"She had a calming effect on you when she told you about it," McClanahan said. "She talked slow and never got excited."
Some calls were still hard to take, Marie England said. In 1996, a house fire in Berlin that killed three children was a particularly tough time to be a dispatcher, she said. Another tough call was the fatal crash of a former co-worker's brother, she said. Despite the immense gravity of the situation, Marie England said she had a job to do.
"I think the people that do this job are a different breed," England said. "You have to be calm. If you fall apart, you can't do the job. You have to fall apart when it is over."
Dispatchers have to handle a great deal of stress, Marie England said, and are responsible for coordinating all emergency responses and groups. Despite the immense responsibility, she said dispatchers are largely ignored by the public for their contributions to public safety and health.
"I feel telecommunications is the stepchild of emergency response," Marie England said. "Dispatchers don't get recognized."
In 1996 when she had a stress-induced heart attack, Marie England was ordered by her doctor to start spending 40 hours a week resting or out of the house. By June 1996, the dispatch moved out of her Augusta home and into the old jail in Brooksville, where it resides today.
England became the dispatch supervisor and oversaw a growing number of dispatchers at the new center.
The center still receives the usual calls of drunken disorderliness and domestic disputes just like she received 30 years ago, she said.
"It is still the same, just more of it," Marie England said.
The call center is also inundated with the same inane calls Marie England said she got regularly when she was a dispatcher. When a water main breaks, she said people will dial 911 to ask if they should boil their water and other non-emergency inquiries. England calls these people 'frequent flyers' and their voice is immediately recognizable, she said.
"When frequent flyers answer the phone, you would cringe," England said.
Many serious calls came into the new dispatch center during the 1997 flood, when she saw a return to long days. The mass evacuations had the phone lines flooded and dispatchers working double shifts for a long time, she said.
"We had so much damage in the Milford area, it seemed to go on forever," she said. "Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when it was done."
The flood really showed how adroit Marie England was as a dispatcher, said Brooksville Fire Chief David Sticklen.
"During the flood she handled herself real well with all the people hollering and calling on the radio," Sticklen said.
Even though Oct. 11 was officially her last day, Marie England said she will fill in occasionally at the dispatch center when they need her. For now, she is looking forward to having more time on her hands with her husband Larry, including going on vacations.
"We will do some things we haven't done in a very long time," England said. |
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