Emergencies, tragedies can't rattle this Novi, South Lyon 911 dispatcher

Charlie Jordan already had some dispatching experience when he reported for his first shift at Novi Regional 911 Center.

He was nervous and barely talked while absorbing the new policies and responsibilities that go with dispatching for the cities of Novi and South Lyon.

Some days were equally – if not more – nerve wracking, even for the trainers and supervisors who were perfectly familiar with how the job could deflate the strongest souls because of the long hours and stressful situations.  

Jordan still remembers a particularly challenging day training on the police radio.

A 911 call exploded into a huge police response and search for a shooter at Twelve Oaks Mall. The media clamored for more information.

“I remember my trainers telling me before I left for home, ‘Please come back tomorrow,’” Jordan said, reminiscing about that abnormally busy day. “There are definitely days that we go home when we get defeated here.

“But we have a very good support team. The city’s very good to us. We just help each other out and make sure we come back the best that we can.”

Jordan, 27, started in 2016 and needed about three years to feel comfortable as a Novi dispatcher despite his prior work as an EMT and private sector dispatcher.

Now, he hopes to retire from the city as a call taker able to calm and help the distraught in times of need. 

Unlike other metro Detroit 911 call centers, where burnout can be a problem, Novi’s dispatch center has been fully staffed for the last couple of years. That’s even with the 12-hour shifts.

“We don’t have a lot of people leave here,” Communications Manager Alan Patterson said. “Our pay and benefits are good. (With the 12-hour shifts), they get a lot more days off during the year. They only work 14 days in a month.”

Patterson has been trying to fill a recent retirement. He credits the city’s use of CritiCall pre-employment testing software for weeding out those who normally would drop out of the six-month training program.

“Now everyone that applies we invite to test,” Patterson said. “We find those diamonds in the rough.”

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Life-work balance

Jordan avows the healing powers of spending time with family and loved ones. That helps him survive the stress of his first responder job.

It’s a tough gig, considering people who call 911 typically are experiencing one of their worst days. Ever.

Jordan, though, loves to help people by organizing the city’s response to emergencies.

He invests a solid 30 seconds into calming callers down and getting the information needed to keep the callers and the emergency responders safe.

“I believe it starts with me. Being a dispatcher and a call taker, you have to be calm yourself,” Jordan explained. “I tell them, ‘Take a deep breath. Tell me exactly what happened.’

"As long as I’m calm, it normally calms that person down. Eighty percent of the time, it normally works. As long as you’re calm, they’ll calm down to your level. You’re not going to get any information out of them if they’re distraught and upset.”

He likes to get a location as soon as possible. If he gets disconnected from the caller, he can at least get started on a response. As he talks to the caller, he’s also trying to discern what’s going on, who is involved, and whether weapons are involved. His questions spring from the answers he receives.

Calls can be regarding dogs, parking complaints, overdoses, people fighting, medical crises, vehicle collisions and matters even more deadly.

“It’s fun to do all the behind-the-door kind of work,” Jordan admitted. “You get everything set up.  People call me a control freak, because, as a dispatcher you're kind of in control. It’s kind of nice to, most importantly, make sure everybody gets home safe.”

Novi's operation

Novi employs 14 dispatchers, including four shift leaders.

In June, they took nearly 3,000 911 calls and about 10,750 non-emergency calls. The June numbers included approximately, 5,300 police runs and about 700 medical/fire runs.

Dispatchers have a goal of dispatching emergency hits within 90 seconds of the start of a call. On average, they dispatch firefighters and medical personnel for medical and fire emergencies within 50 seconds.

Jordan has some advice for those considering a dispatching career. For one, do not watch the TV show “911,” where, in Jordan’s words, “you get all the crazy calls at once.”

“Do the research,” he advised. “We have a very big responsibility and one of those responsibilities is to make sure everybody goes home at the end of our shift.

“However, it’s not as intimidating as people make it out to be. Don’t believe what you see on TV and give it a try.”

Contact reporter Susan Vela at svela@hometownlife.com or 248-303-8432. Follow her on Twitter @susanvela.