April 18, 2025
There are 27 dispatchers who work for the Steuben County 9-1-1 center, and five to seven dispatchers are on duty at any given time. It’s a very important job and there’s a lot to it, such as a certain amount of medical knowledge. “If somebody is choking or goes into cardiac arrest, dispatchers can give instructions on how to do cpr,” said Steuben County Public Safety Director Tim Marshall. “Dispatchers can give instructions on how to do the Hiemlich Manuver, it’s all types of medical emergencies that the 9-1-1 dispatchers can handle,” Marshall expplained.
Not only that, but it’s also a bit of a social workers job as well, when you are a 9-1-1 dispatcher. “They do quite a bit of talking people down,” Marshall continued. “Quite often they’ll take calls from individuals who are suffering from a mental health crisis,” and in both the case of medical emergencies and mental health situations, Marshall says, that it’s the dispatchers who keep victims alive until help arrives in person.
