Knox County 911 dispatchers are participating in a training program this week focused on trauma, suicidology, and other relevant topics. The sessions, each lasting four hours, are scheduled from Tuesday through Thursday. Laura Webster, the 911 Operations Director, informed the Board of Commissioners about this initiative during their meeting on September 11.
According to a YouTube video of the meeting, Webster said that Tracy Elder, the chaplain for the Knox County Sheriff's Office, will conduct the training. The curriculum covers trauma, suicidology, compassion fatigue, and PTSD. Webster mentioned that other agencies have been invited to join the training sessions. The schedule is designed to accommodate dispatchers' work shifts.
"It's become apparent that there needs to be these types of things in place for dispatch because they suffer similar traumas as those out in the field," Webster said during the meeting.
Webster also reported that dispatchers handled 4,142 calls for service in August, which was a decrease from July. She noted a slight increase in mental health and attempted/threatening suicide calls by just one call. Fridays were identified as the peak day for both emergency and non-emergency calls, with 4 p.m. being the busiest time for emergency calls and 2 p.m. for non-emergency ones.
The video further revealed that Webster said 35 of these service calls were made via landline, while another 142 were received through VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), and 1,306 came from wireless phones. Technology assists dispatchers in locating callers who may not know their exact location. For instance, a caller recently provided an incorrect street name but was correctly located after verification by a dispatcher using mapping tools.
Webster also highlighted that their system has access to RapidSOS technology to manage text-based calls; however, they are not yet fully reliant on it. She acknowledged its usefulness for mapping purposes.
