Distinctive Discussion – Theresa Russell

For Interview #4, Distinctive Discussion, I had special guest Theresa Russell, who is the head of 911 dispatching for Ohio County. Theresa talked about how the center is set up, how it has changed, and overall how most things operate in the center. Theresa has been doing this for over 30 years so she is very experienced within this field. She talked a bit about some of the training you must go through for this and who dispatchers directly work with.

One thing I was curious about and wanted to discuss was the unfortunate mental toll a job like this can have. Theresa shared about the support system dispatchers have and how they have resources to help cope with some of the trauma. Within this interview, you can learn so much than just the surface knowledge for dispatching. Thank you Theresa!