There’s an art to the craft of emergency communicating, because dispatchers have only voices to judge what to say.
Mike Tighe, La Crosse Tribune | August 5, 2014
(MCT) — Average days are nonexistent for emergency medical dispatchers, often forcing them to be multi-tasking whizzes to juggle calls from the second they report to work, Jamie Ristey says.
“You hope you can ease into it, but there is no way to ease into it,” said Ristey, a medical communications specialist at the Gundersen Medical Communications Center in La Crosse.
She cited July 24 as a perfect example, when a fiery, six-vehicle fatal accident on Interstate 90 in the town of Campbell scrambled dispatchers in the computer-filled, control-room-like MedComm center as they dispatched ambulances and monitored the situation to determine the response needed.
The crash alert came in at 7:50 a.m., and Ristey received a call to guide a Gundersen MedLink AIR flight from Prairie du Chien two minutes later. Meanwhile, she and the other three specialists on duty also were handling other 911 calls, as well as relaying information about the I-90 crash to hospital personnel, said Ristey, who had started work at 7 and wasn’t able to take time for breakfast until three hours later.
“When they [MedLink] were in the air, I had to concentrate on them,” she said, but she also had to be aware of other traffic in the center.
“We call it global listening. You have to know what else is going on because we back each other up, and if you get a call, you have to know. That’s hard to train, and it takes time to learn,” she said.
“I hate to say this, but women are better at it than men — that’s a fact — because women are used to kids,” said the mother of three girls ages 21, 18 and 16.
Not every day is so hectic, she said: “Sometimes you walk in and there is nothing to do for hours. I prefer to be busy.”
Some calls continue to haunt, said the 45-year-old Ristey, who has been a MedComm specialist for more than six years and was a volunteer first responder for the West Salem Fire Department before that.
“One that always sticks with me” came from a woman whose husband was pinned under a vehicle, she said.
“It was very far out, in a rural area, and when I was on the phone with her, her husband passed,” Ristey said. “The worst thing of all was that there was nothing she could do, and there was nothing I could do. Generally, we are able to tell them to do something.”
Another incident was the May 10, 2008, crash of a University of Wisconsin Hospitals Med Flight helicopter near La Crosse that killed the pilot, a doctor and a nurse. The chopper went down at about 10:45 p.m. and wasn’t found until about 8:30 a.m. the next day.
In training at the time, Ristey was bothered especially by the fact that she was involved in calling for the Med Flight. She and her husband, Eric, later joined the search for the craft because they had a Mule UTV to travel the rough terrain.
“My husband and I were at the scene all night,” she said.
They were not part of the crew that found the wreckage, Ristey said, choking up as she added, “That is still tough. The Mule was subsequently sold because I couldn’t look at it.”
There’s an art to the craft of emergency communicating, because dispatchers have only voices to judge what to say, instead of being able to pick up facial cues as first responders and paramedics can do on-scene, she said.
“You’ve got to read your caller and determine what will help and what won’t. You may choose the wrong word and set them off,” she said.
Children can present the most challenging calls, she said, adding, “If you can get them right from the get-go and get them doing something, it goes better.
“Generally, the kids listen better than the adults. They will listen and do exactly what you tell them. They’re generally very scared, so you have to keep them focused,” she said.
Ristey said her background as a first responder is helpful in her current role, and many of her MedComm colleagues are former first responders, emergency medical technicians or firefighters.
“It gives you an idea of what goes on on scene and what is happening with the responders,” she said. “It gives you a good insight to that whole process.”
The close working relationships among all levels of emergency care creates a unique bond, she said.
“They’re all such a tight brotherhood, I guess you’d say, in all the emergency services I don’t know how you would experience anything else like it,” she said.
As for her own experiences, Ristey still is waiting to handle the call for what she imagines will be one of the happiest: “The birth of a baby — everyone wants that. I think that would be the best — to help bring in a new life.”
©2014 the La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wis.). Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
“You hope you can ease into it, but there is no way to ease into it,” said Ristey, a medical communications specialist at the Gundersen Medical Communications Center in La Crosse.
She cited July 24 as a perfect example, when a fiery, six-vehicle fatal accident on Interstate 90 in the town of Campbell scrambled dispatchers in the computer-filled, control-room-like MedComm center as they dispatched ambulances and monitored the situation to determine the response needed.
The crash alert came in at 7:50 a.m., and Ristey received a call to guide a Gundersen MedLink AIR flight from Prairie du Chien two minutes later. Meanwhile, she and the other three specialists on duty also were handling other 911 calls, as well as relaying information about the I-90 crash to hospital personnel, said Ristey, who had started work at 7 and wasn’t able to take time for breakfast until three hours later.
“When they [MedLink] were in the air, I had to concentrate on them,” she said, but she also had to be aware of other traffic in the center.
“We call it global listening. You have to know what else is going on because we back each other up, and if you get a call, you have to know. That’s hard to train, and it takes time to learn,” she said.
“I hate to say this, but women are better at it than men — that’s a fact — because women are used to kids,” said the mother of three girls ages 21, 18 and 16.
Not every day is so hectic, she said: “Sometimes you walk in and there is nothing to do for hours. I prefer to be busy.”
Some calls continue to haunt, said the 45-year-old Ristey, who has been a MedComm specialist for more than six years and was a volunteer first responder for the West Salem Fire Department before that.
“One that always sticks with me” came from a woman whose husband was pinned under a vehicle, she said.
“It was very far out, in a rural area, and when I was on the phone with her, her husband passed,” Ristey said. “The worst thing of all was that there was nothing she could do, and there was nothing I could do. Generally, we are able to tell them to do something.”
Another incident was the May 10, 2008, crash of a University of Wisconsin Hospitals Med Flight helicopter near La Crosse that killed the pilot, a doctor and a nurse. The chopper went down at about 10:45 p.m. and wasn’t found until about 8:30 a.m. the next day.
In training at the time, Ristey was bothered especially by the fact that she was involved in calling for the Med Flight. She and her husband, Eric, later joined the search for the craft because they had a Mule UTV to travel the rough terrain.
“My husband and I were at the scene all night,” she said.
They were not part of the crew that found the wreckage, Ristey said, choking up as she added, “That is still tough. The Mule was subsequently sold because I couldn’t look at it.”
There’s an art to the craft of emergency communicating, because dispatchers have only voices to judge what to say, instead of being able to pick up facial cues as first responders and paramedics can do on-scene, she said.
“You’ve got to read your caller and determine what will help and what won’t. You may choose the wrong word and set them off,” she said.
Children can present the most challenging calls, she said, adding, “If you can get them right from the get-go and get them doing something, it goes better.
“Generally, the kids listen better than the adults. They will listen and do exactly what you tell them. They’re generally very scared, so you have to keep them focused,” she said.
Ristey said her background as a first responder is helpful in her current role, and many of her MedComm colleagues are former first responders, emergency medical technicians or firefighters.
“It gives you an idea of what goes on on scene and what is happening with the responders,” she said. “It gives you a good insight to that whole process.”
The close working relationships among all levels of emergency care creates a unique bond, she said.
“They’re all such a tight brotherhood, I guess you’d say, in all the emergency services I don’t know how you would experience anything else like it,” she said.
As for her own experiences, Ristey still is waiting to handle the call for what she imagines will be one of the happiest: “The birth of a baby — everyone wants that. I think that would be the best — to help bring in a new life.”
©2014 the La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wis.). Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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