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24/7 Brown County dispatchers are ready to take the call

NEW ULM -- Before a single first responder can spring into action to provide assistance, there is a group of trained professionals on call waiting to direct and assist.

Behind every fire department, ambulance crew, Sheriff's Deputy or police officer is the local dispatcher who takes the initial call.

Brown County Dispatch operates out of the Law Enforcement Center in New Ulm. Every 911 call in the county from Springfield to Hanska is routed through the dispatch office, which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Dispatcher Supervisor Lori Bianchi said currently there are eight full-time dispatcher working for Brown County with another three part-time staff. Typically there are at least two dispatchers in the office to take calls at a time.

"We try to have two people in here at all times," Bianchi said. "It is not uncommon for multiple calls to come in at one time."

Bianchi and dispatchers Brie Barnes and Sue Buechner agree that there is no such thing as a typical day at the office. There is no way to know which days will be filled with calls and which will be slow.

"The summer months are usually a little busier," Barnes said. "The nights with high call volume are usually the ones where people are out and about. In the summer, people are a little bit more active."

Bianchi confirmed that nights where there is a full moon usually see an uptick in emergency calls. However, any night could be busy and its important to have someone to answer the call when the need arrives.

"People need to know that when a call comes in there will be someone to answer it," Bianchi said.

Bianchi said there is a lot of on-the-job training to become a dispatcher. She estimated it takes around six months for a new dispatcher to get comfortable in the job.

Bianchi said she started working as a dispatcher 20 years and took over as supervisor last year.

"Originally it started as a part-time job, but I came to love," Bianchi said. "It is never the same day twice."

The job can also be very rewarding.

"It feels good to help people," Bianchi said. "It can be something as simple as performing a welfare check or in some cases, talking a person off the ledge, literally."

In addition to handling emergency calls, Brown County Dispatch will also relay information between different agencies, including the Sheriff Deputies, New Ulm Police, animal control or even weather alerts.

Barnes said if a storm spotter sees a funnel cloud, it gets reported through dispatch. From their office, dispatchers can literally sound a tornado alarm in any Brown County community where it is needed.

Asked what type of person makes for a good dispatcher, Bianchi said a person needs to be great at multi-tasking, because there is a lot going on in the dispatcher calls center that they need to respond to quickly.

"You need to be calm even in a stressful situation," Bianchi said.

"Being able to make a quick connection with people over the phone is a necessary skill," Barnes said.

In an emergency, the person on the other end of the line needs to trust the dispatcher. Having a quick rapport is extremely important.

"You need a lot of compassion too," Buechner said. "It is wonderful to be a source of comfort for someone experiencing their worst moment; especially if they feel better after the call is done."

Many of the 9-1-1 callers are in a difficult situation and having compassion for them goes a long way to create a positive outcome.

The Brown County Dispatchers take a great deal of pride in officer safety. Before sending officers out on a call, they need to get all the information possible. Sending an officer into potential danger is never great, but any information can help them prepare for the worst.

"Knowing we are keeping officers safe and helping the community is the best part of the job," Barnes said.