A peek into the hub of public safety for South Lake Tahoe

This has been National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, so what better time to sit down with the women who answer 911 calls in South Lake Tahoe who are the first step in protecting homes, property and people and the unsung heroes of the community.

With an average of 300 to 400 calls going into dispatch each month, staff has to be ready to handle an emergency at every moment through their shift, which in South Lake Tahoe is normally 10 hours long, though they can be up to 12 hours.

Even though housed inside the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) and the CalTahoe JPA ambulances while also monitoring calls in Douglas County and with the California Highway Patrol. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office calls are handled through Placerville, but the two dispatch centers can work together on calls for the South Shore.

Inside the SLT dispatch center there are four stations, each with four large terminals and a phone system. At most times there are two stations staffed, one for police, the other for fire and ambulance, though busy holidays and events will call for more, and some overnight hours will see just one station staffed.

Currently, SLT dispatch is down two full-time and two part-time employees and it isn't unusual to see the 28 hours of overtime the department had this week.

Being a dispatcher isn't for everyone. It takes the right and the ability to multi-task as one has to be able to handle several calls at the same time and know which officers, fire fighters and paramedics/emts are on which call, and who is available to respond, and what to say and do, all in a calm manner.

They are the lifeline between the emergency and first responders, so a lot of training is needed to work in dispatch. The first step is a computer-based Criti-call simulation to see if a perspective employee has what it takes. Then there is the interview, and if selected the background and medical process begins (which can be months). Perspective employees got through a voice stress analysis, must like a lie detector test, is measures one's voice. The following training period is six to nine months, but training goes on for the rest of their careers to address current issues like school shootings.

In South Lake Tahoe the dispatch center is full of long-time employees. Linda Clark has been there 18 years, Jill Gard, 16 years and supervisor Melissa Dube has been there 10 years. The other four staff members have been on the team almost four years.

"It is important to focus on your outside of work," said Dube. "The work takes its toll. We have to listen to things most normal people don't have to."

Dube said being in a smaller community does allow them closure with calls as the officers can stop by during their shift and fill them in. Dispatch employees in large cities never get that.

"Its the toughest seat in the house," said SLTPD Lt. David Stevenson.

Dube and her staff are now getting more calls for service. She said there is an increase in crime now that criminals face misdemeanors instead of felonies and are out of jail, along with an increase in visitors.

Besides an increase in calls and being short-handed, the communications system is aging in South Lake Tahoe. It hasn't been upgraded in years and calls between dispatch and the first responder isn't always a clear line. There are "dead spots" in town, making it almost impossible to communicate from those spots, and trees are growing and covering key transmission points.

Computers are now giving dispatch a new tool to track calls, and follow and record emergencies. They can zero in on cell phones and land lines when 911 is called, giving them an eye to the City from their desk.

Dube and her team do an amazing job.

If one listens to a scanner on a busy night they'll hear a voice that is under control and knows exactly who to send and what to do in an emergency, where all players in the system are and how to help the person on the other end of the phone line.

After rigorous training they have the means to know what to say and what to ask as the first responders are on their way. They've even "delivered" babies over the phone.

Gard has helped with three babies. One woman was in labor and at a bus stop with her husband, heading to Barton. It was the woman's fifth baby and labor came very quickly and Gard was there from the contraction to the birth. The couple only spoke Spanish, and Gard couldn't give them all the needed directions but police officers arrived just as the baby was being born at the bus stop....a baby she was able to meet later.

There are odd calls too.

Dube said one woman called to say her house was on fire. Fire was dispatched and Dube kept talking to the woman who then changed her story to a man being in her house, then someone was holding her hostage. First responders arrived and helped the woman who had mental health issues.

When that phone rings they never know who will be on the other end, one in the midst of an emergency, or a prank call.

South Lake Tahoe is in good hands with their very capable communications staff.