DISPATCHERS: Unsung heroes of fire story

I read the entire article twice regarding that very tragic day last year when the firefighters were ambushed on that hill while responding to a call. It was good to read about everyone coming together and the awards that were handed out acknowledging the hard work and dedication. 

What I did not read about anywhere in the article were acknowledgements of the people behind the scene, namely the dispatchers who handled the call that day. They were a large part of the call even though they were not in the field. That is the voice those firefighters were talking to and those voices behind the scenes were working fast and furiously to get any and all help from other agencies as needed. 

I was able to monitor some of the radio traffic that day and I was very impressed of the professionalism of those dispatchers while handling the radio traffic. I would hope that they were acknowledged in some way for the work that they did and how they operated also under pressure. 

As a dispatcher, you do not have moments to make urgent decisions you most often have only seconds and then you proceed on from there hoping you made the best decision. The dispatcher is the one on the other end of that radio that most often gets the call for help making them the first contact!

DIANE BLAIR

Rathdrum