By Vanessa Grieve, Idaho State Journal
Original publication date: June 25, 2011

Pocatello, Idaho — Nicole Langsdorf was troubled by one of the first calls she took as she was training to become a Pocatello police dispatcher. The call left her with a mental image of her son, Buddy, in distress.

Langsdorf, 32, has worked for the department for four years. While she was in training, she received a call by a man whose 2-month-old boy had stopped breathing.

“We got a call that a 2-month-old baby was unconscious , not breathing,” Langsdorf said. “The dad

kept saying, ‘Come on, Buddy. Come on, Buddy.’ Well my son’s name is Buddy and I’ll never forget that and we didn’t save him.”

Despite the sometimes unpleasant calls, Langsdorf believes her job is rewarding because she is able to help people in need.

“I came from a very abusive relationship,” she said “Now, for me to be able to help other women that call –they’ll tell you, ‘You don’t know what I am talking about.’ Yes, I do –and just being able to help them get out of that… ”

Langsdorf believes this line of work is a perfect fit for her.

The dispatch area of the police department, located at 911 N. Seventh Avenue is partitioned into areas for handling emergencies, police officers, public phone calls and paperwork. Dispatchers work four 10-hour days. Langsdorf said that gives her a three-day weekend to spend with her husband and six children.

The dispatchers rotate through different stations “so no one gets burned out,” Langsdorf said.

She said police receive many non-emergency 911 calls that can clog the system for people who actually have a life-threatening emergency. The department has eight lines for emergency calls and five for general calls. Langsdorf said 911 should be used only for life-threatening emergencies, and it is a good idea to know the local dispatch number for general concerns such as parking matters or vandalism.

The department also receives a number of unwarranted 911 calls from children playing on cell phones. Recently, Langsdorf dealt with about 15 such calls from children playing on an old cell phone.

Even without paid cell phone service, “any cell phone can call 911,” Langsdorf said. “So take the battery out.”

She said often women who seek safety assistance are given cell phones without service because they can still call for help.

In a typical day, the department receives several hundred calls. Sometimes there are just a few dispatchers working.

When a major event happens, the department receives a large volume of calls. Langsdorf said when the high schools were evacuated this spring due to a bomb threat, parents called for information –about 200 calls in two hours.

“I think you get joy helping somebody, but you always like the calls that are not life-threatening ,” Langsdorf said.

Langsdorf also takes calls from officers in the field, jumping among four screens. One keeps track of the officers as they move through Pocatello and updates their status on another screen. Langsdorf will search records in another screen to find information in addition to printing and filling out paperwork.

On a daily basis, dispatchers work with animal control, gas and power companies when there is a fire, sort and transfer various calls that come in, plus a variety of other tasks.

When the phone rings, dispatchers try to collect information to send help. On some, callers don’t want to give names or addresses , but insist on help. She said dispatchers only ask pertinent information to know the situation officers will enter.

“We’re here to get them the help they are asking for. When they start swearing at us and yelling at us and hanging up on us, that doesn’t allow us to get the information we need to send them help,” she said. “We’re here to help, we’re not the bad guy.”

In January, Langsdorf handled a call that will haunt her. It was a woman in distress whose boyfriend was threatening to harm himself in a triplex on Woodhill Way. The incident ended tragically, with the man reportedly murdering the caller and then taking his own life.

“I think that one impacted me because of the abusive relationship I came out of,” she said. “It just made me realize that could have been me and it’s just that –a daily reminder that’s not a life I want to be in and it’s nothing I want to go back to.”

After sending help, Langsdorf said the camaraderie of the police department and in-house anonymous counseling gave her amazing support in handling and recovering emotionally from hearing about a situation that hit too close to home.

“I think anytime you lose a life you feel like, ‘Could I have done something different? Could I have done something better? Is there anything I could have changed?’ But there’s not,” Langsdorf said. “We did exactly what we were supposed to do. We went exactly by protocol. Things happen the way that they do, but listening to somebody die, it’s not something you can describe. It’s not something you can put into words. It’s just something that haunts you and that you carry with you forever.”

Each day is new in Langsdorf’s eyes with challenges and situations. There is always the adrenaline rush when calls increase.

“Honestly, it is helping people, being able to be that comfort on the other end of the line and knowing that you might have a part in changing somebody’s life for the better,” she said.

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