By Steven Mayer
The Bakersfield Californian
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — If you’re lucky enough to get a tour of Hall Ambulance’s new dispatch center in downtown Bakersfield, keep an eye on seven-year veteran dispatcher Julianne Solano.
Emergency calls that would likely raise the blood pressure and heart rate in the best of us show Solano speaking clearly, accurately, with care and empathy — and with no sign of even a tremor in her voice.
“It’s important to remain as calm as you can,” she told The Californian on Friday.
“You are the voice of reason, you are that calming influence trying to keep the situation stable, she said of the job of a dispatcher.
This week is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, and Hall Ambulance is taking the time to celebrate its emergency medical dispatchers, individuals who play a critical part in Kern County’s 911 system.
This annual recognition pays tribute to the thousands of men and women who answer the calls and deploy paramedics and EMTs to those in need.
On Friday, Solano took a call from someone whose loved one was having difficulty breathing. The conversation showed how dispatchers don’t just deploy resources, they get directly involved in digging down to determine exactly what is happening on the other end of the line.
“Is she having difficulty speaking between breaths?” she asked. “Is she changing color?”
Solano asked whether the patient has a history of asthma or other lung problems.
“I’m sending the ambulance to help you now,” she told the 911 caller. “Stay on the line. I’ll tell you exactly what to do next. Reassure her that an ambulance is on the way.”
Later, Solano explained how her questions and answers to and from the scene help her determine what’s going on on the other end of the line.
“I’m trying to gain a basic idea of what’s happening... The way they answer those questions can determine the response.”
Mark Corum, director of media services at Hall, noted that dispatchers don’t have the benefit of being at the scene.
“You’re not seeing, smelling, viewing what is happening,” he said, “so you’re trying to get that from the caller, almost like a detective.”
And the calls keep coming.
“You don’t realize how much happens in a day in Kern County,” Solano said.
Operating 24/7, the center dispatched more than 150,000 calls last year, including 13,326 instances in which dispatchers provided pre-arrival instructions, such as guiding someone through performing CPR or the Heimlich maneuver.
Dispatch Supervisor Anthony Hernandez is working his 25th year at Hall Ambulance, and has served 33 years total in emergency medical services.
“As a supervisor you have to learn to understand each individual employee as an individual, not as a group,” Hernandez said.
He talked about the job of a dispatcher as rewarding, but also as a position that can affect employees emotionally.
And he noted that Hall provides counseling services and other support to employees affected by on-the-job trauma.
He remembered a call that has stayed with him throughout his career.
Careful to not provide any information that could breach patient confidentiality, Hernandez said the call came in response to a drowning involving the loss of a child.
“It was in a bathtub,” he said, his mind going back to that indelible memory.
All these years later, he said, “it’s still impactful, hearing the crying mother calling, while dad’s trying to do CPR.”
Those who haven’t been there cannot truly know the sacrifices dispatchers make as they work the phones and speak with countless individuals experiencing crisis in their communities.
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