9:48 a.m. on a recent workday.911 — Where is your emergency?I need an ambulance at [address given].Dispatchers sit in a dimly lit room in front of multiple computer screens and televisions. They are surrounded by phone lines, computers, paper charts and radios to police officers, paramedics and firefighters.What’s the problem?A lady I work for, she’s passed out. She’s unconsciousHow old is she?She’s 57She’s still unconscious?Yes, I don’t think she’s breathing.It’s called multitasking, and in situations that often deal with life-and-death issues, there’s only one thing that can bail them out: training. In this case, the dispatcher is simultaneously talking to the caller and alerting a colleague to dispatch paramedics.A simple mistake like getting an address wrong can result in death.A homeowner, fearing an intruder, might take up a gun while calling police and appear to be a threat to officers arriving at the scene. The dispatcher must keep them apart. Often dispatchers must tell novices how to perform life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a loved one.This transcript has been edited for length.OK. Are you right by her?Yes.Lay her flat on her back and remove any pillows.I don’t think I can get her turned over.OK, where is she at right now?She just took one breath.Where is she at?She’s in the hall between the doorway.It’s not a job for everyone.There are very few college courses to train dispatchers. Ohio, like many states, has no certification for dispatchers. Stow, like many other area communities, trains its own dispatchers on the job, starting them as part-timers who spend most of their time observing, studying and doing other tasks. Some advance to become full-timers, but it can be another four months before they answer their first emergency call, said Dispatch Supervisor Ginger Hatfield.All this at an hourly rate that starts in the $14 range.OK, Can you put the phone down and lay her on her back so we can see if she’s breathing?She’s just taking some gasps.Can you tell me every time she’s taking a breath?About every five or six seconds I guess, maybe not even that…She’s not breathing yet. Oh, please hurry and get someone here.My partner’s already got them on the way, just tell me when she takes a breath.Stow police Chief Louis A. Dirker has spent time in his career supervising dispatchers and out on the road answering their calls. “I’d rather be out there on the street than work in dispatch,” he said. “It’s extremely frustrating. You are trying to get information from people who are under pressure, who are hysterical sometimes, who are uncooperative, maybe, who are hostile and you are trying to give this to the officers who are going to a call and you are trying to get them there safely.”Kneel next to her and look in her mouth and see if there’s any food or vomit.There’s nothing in her mouth.Place you hand on her forehead.On her what?On her forehead.OK.And your other hand under her neck and tilt her head back.OK.I want you to put your ear next to her mouth and see if you can hear her breathing.No, I don’t, but she just took a gasp.OK, but she’s not taking one often, right?No.Hatfield said technology has made the job easier in the 20 years she’s been a dispatcher. Computer maps locate addresses quickly. Databases help them update information to police and firefighters in an instant. A file of printed cards draws on years of experience by others to help them ask the right question, issue the most appropriate command in crucial situations that might make ordinary people cower. It’s rare for dispatchers to work alone. Typically, a dispatcher who is giving CPR instructions over the phone is backed up by another dispatcher calling out the paramedics.Stow usually has three dispatchers on each three-hour shift.Finding people who can perform well under that pressure is not easy. “It’s kind of a strange combination of being regimented and yet being able to multitask and being able to think on your own,” Dirker said.You’re going to put the heel of your hand on her breastbone in the center of the chest right between the nipples and put your other hand on top of that hand.OK.Push down firmly two inches with only the heel of your left hand touching the chest.OK, hang on.…OK I did that.Pump the chest hard and fast at least twice per second. You’re going to do this at least 600 times until help can take over.OK.Make sure you’re letting the chest come all the way up between the pumps.OK.You can count out loud if you want and I can count with you.Now how many times do I do this?You’re going to do it 600 times.600?Hatfield said some people who seem extremely qualified just don’t work out. That’s why Stow doesn’t rely on a hiring test too often, preferring to bring on part-timers, train them for hours and then promote from the best of those.“There are certain personalities that like to bend the rules or don’t like to follow rules,” she said. “Those aren’t necessarily going to fit that well in this type of organization because we do have procedures that need to be followed,” she said.Even part-timers are expected to pass a psychological profile administered by a local psychologist before hiring on.Hatfield said hiring the right kind of personality makes a difference.“You are handling one call at a time [as a police officer] but as a dispatcher, the phones may be ringing off the hook,” she said. “You get a crash at Graham [Road] and [state Route] 91. You have to get through that call and get to the next one. You cannot assume all those 911 calls are related to that crash. It might be someone else having a heart attack, so there is a lot of pressure for them to boom, boom, boom get through these calls, which sometimes can make us seem rude.”I’m still trying to do it but nothing is happening.OK, just keep doing it, you’re doing a good job.OK, hang on.What’s your name?She’s not breathing!Dr. Alfred Grzegorek, a psychologist, has helped Stow hire dispatchers.“I consider the selection work with dispatchers to be some of the most difficult selection work that I do,” he said. “I think dispatchers are a kind of special group of people. To tell the truth, I really admire what they do and how they do it.”He said it makes a difference if the department is in a big city where many cultures will be encountered or if the department has the most modern equipment that requires some book-learning ability.On the whole, though, he said, “You want somebody who has a good deal of empathy, the ability to receive and listen to not only the facts and the information but to the emotional tenor of what is said because the best decision that is made combines in many cases both fact and emotion and how the two are interacting.”Training for dispatchers is not uniform nationwide.Tony Harrison is president and founder of the Public Safety Group, a Florida-based company that offers dispatcher training to departments throughout the country.He said a lack of training for dispatchers can have tragic consequences.“There are many incidents around the country where poor training has potentially led to the death of people,” he said.He said common mistakes include sending emergency personnel to the wrong location.Education standards for dispatchers vary tremendously throughout the nation.“Training in communication is lacking tremendously,” Harrison said. “In many states … the person who cuts your hair is required to have certification by the state and the person who takes your 911 call isn’t.”OK, the paramedics are coming. I just want to keep doing those compressions until they get there.OK.Keep doing those compressions.Dirker said the Summit County Emergency Management Agency is a big help, offering specialized training to keep dispatchers up to speed.He pays close attention to the relationship of dispatchers and police officers, with respect on both sides being the key.Dispatchers tend to be women. Only two of Stow’s 14 full-time dispatchers are men, and national surveys indicate 66 percent or more might be women. Only three of Stow’s 38 police officers are women.Part of Dirker’s strategy includes cross-training. Dispatchers spend some time riding with cops. Police officers are expected to sit in the dispatch room for hours.I’m in the hall![Paramedic] How long has she not been breathing?She’s been there since I called 911, maybe 15 minutes. [It was really four minutes, 35 seconds]Dirker said police sometimes are surprised how busy the dispatch room can be because they don’t hear all of the radio dispatches and none of the telephone calls.Add to that the dynamic of women directing men where to go and you have potential for trouble. His advice to police: “Don’t make the dispatchers mad. What are you, crazy? You’re going to get all the bad calls!”That would include complaints of barking dogs and loud music.Grzegorek said he looks for a job candidate who can be bold.“That is the other part that you have to consider in looking at a dispatcher is how much chutzpah is there because they do tell the men where to go and there is a push back at times,” he said.Police and dispatchers are encouraged to resolve their differences.“If there is any real major or minor thing, they will ask and they are not bashful,” Dirker said. “That’s the thing with these ladies: they are not bashful.”It can all add up to a lot of stress. Harrison said divorce and suicide are high among dispatchers, although he could not point to any surveys on the subject.“It’s extremely high stress, very high turnover,” he said.Hatfield and Dirker said handling a call that ends in suicide or a shooting can leave the police officer and the dispatcher emotionally drained.Counselors are called in for what they call debriefing and the employees are encouraged to be as candid as possible. Administrators are kept out of the sessions, which are not subject to subpoenas because they are considered medical consultations.Grzegorek said he has come to admire their strength.“I think dispatchers are a kind of special group of people . . . I really admire what they do and how they do it,” he said.And they are available 24 hours a day.“The first point of contact [with the public] is the dispatchers,” Dirker said. “They are the most critical. … We can’t do our job without the dispatchers and our job, the safety of our officers and their ability to respond with the right tactics, is all based on how [dispatchers] handle it.”The emergency call was received by Kara Farkas, a dispatcher since 2007.The woman died.Dave Scott can be reached at 330-996-3577 or davescott@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Scott on Twitter at Davescottofakro.