I have been a 911 dispatcher for 5 years and in that time I have taken “that call” more times then I can count. I know coworkers whom have either left the field or missed many days due to trauma caused by stressful calls. Poor mental health care has also been a contributor to continued short staffing and longer wait times for 911 calls. Burn out and compassion fatigue are real. They call us the first of the first responders. I am asking for your help so we can continue to help others. Please support this legislation.

Good Morning Mr. Chairman and Committee Members, I am writing to ask you to please support this bill. As a 911 dispatcher, I can attest to the traumatic calls we take. In my short career, I have taken multiple calls that have left their scars on my mental health. I have personally heard everything from a 4-month-old’s last breath, a female whispering for help as her significant other stabbed her, a daughter crying as her mother was murdered before her eyes, the coldness of an individual confessing they had murdered a family member, and a teenager begging me to save his life as responders rushed to the scene of his wreck, meanwhile, I knew help was not going to get to him before the fire engulfed his vehicle. While not all calls turn out to be this traumatic and these calls spanned my current seven years of service, they are the ones that left the greatest impact on me. These calls, amplified by other tragedies, began to take effect on my mental health. As 911 dispatchers, we rarely get to know the outcome of the calls, yet we carry the weight of them every day. We experience the emergencies in real time and hear the trauma as the citizen is experiencing it. We hear things no individual should ever have to hear. While most of us do not like to discuss our trauma, I do believe it is an important step to gaining much-needed benefits such as the ones described in this bill. As a 911 dispatcher who has been diagnosed with PTSD and is currently progressing through treatment, I wish I could fully put into words just how important this bill is. As an individual, the job takes a toll on you with the long hours, working holidays and special occasions, being called into work on your days off, and more. The strain it puts on a family is even harder. Then imagine experiencing flashbacks, nightmares, mentally hearing screams repeatedly, anxiety, numbness, and at times, intrusive thoughts. Much like many in the profession, I did not talk about the full extent of my trauma until it became so bad, that I could not handle it on my own anymore. However, I was still afraid of the stigma and the medical bills that would accrue due to the possible medication requirements and therapy appointments. The stress of how I was going to pay for the treatments started to surface also. Many do not seek help for fear of not being able to afford the appropriate treatment making it harder to appropriately handle the traumatic experience. This bill would be a tremendous advancement in the care of our 911 dispatchers. I apologize for the length of this comment; however, I do feel it is necessary to provide you with real-life experience of what 911 dispatchers are exposed to.

Speaking as a close personal friend to one 911 dispatcher and a neighbor to another, I know these are the unseen heroes within the commonwealth. Their work is 24 hours a day, and 911 does not take one day off. Imagine the trauma incurred from talking to people who are either in danger or are witness to tragedies, both in potential and in reality. Dispatchers have an almost impossible job of reassuring their callers to remain calm and give clear directions while sending help as quickly as possible. And these unseen heroes currently cannot claim post-traumatic stress disorder as a reason for worker’s compensation. I encourage those entrusted with the power given to them by the voters of Virginia to do the right thing. Please ensure the rights of my friends and their colleagues in 911 dispatch centers in this commonwealth to claim PTSD as a legal and viable cause for their claims for worker’s compensation when their day’s work causes them unbearable stress and trauma. They are some of the hardest and most dedicated heroes of our communities, but unlike the police officers, firefighters, and EMTs, they remain faceless and unseen and at worst, forgotten. Let’s not forget the work they do and show them the appreciation for their work by seeing this bill become law. Thank you.