Zacharie Rigdon never thought a career as an E-911 dispatcher was in his future. The Meridian native went to school to be an Emergency Medical Technician before working at a variety of jobs in the area.
“I think I was doing delivery driving for the specialty pharmacy here and ended up seeing the position open up here,” he said.
After more than 2.5 years as a dispatcher, Rigdon said the job is both challenging and rewarding.
“This is one of those jobs you really don’t know what it is until you get to it,” he said.
Describing the job as “multitasking to the max,” Rigdon said being an E-911 dispatcher in Lauderdale County provides an opportunity to talk to a lot of different people. Dispatchers field calls from Meridian and Lauderdale County residents and coordinate with local law enforcement, fire and emergency medical agencies.
With its location on the interstate, Meridian and Lauderdale County also see E-911 calls from truck drivers and others who experience trouble while passing through.
“You’re listening to all your radio people, officers, deputies, making sure you get people to the right spot and the appropriate people to the right spot,” he said.
Helping direct resources to those in a moment of need is rewarding, Rigdon said, but it can also be frustrating as dispatchers don’t always know the outcome of their work. Once first responders arrive on scene and take over, dispatchers may not learn what happened to the callers they tried to help.
“We get the beginning of the call. We don’t always get a resolution to it,” he said. “That’s one of the tougher parts because you don’t always get to know this ended like this, this ended like that.”
There are also calls where dispatchers do learn the outcome and learn their efforts helped the person on the other end of the phone, and those situations are very rewarding, Rigdon said.
When calling 911, Rigdon said the dispatcher is going to ask a lot of questions, and there’s a reason why. The more information dispatch can gather, the more prepared first responders can be and the safer the situation is for everyone.
“We want to make sure we get you the appropriate amount of response, plus we want our officers safe also. Officers, firemen, any of our medical people that we get dispatched out, we want to make sure they’re safe also,” he said. “It’s a two-way street. We want them as safe as possible and our people. We want everyone to have a peaceful resolution to whatever issue happens.”
April 12-18 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, and Lauderdale County is using the observance to highlight the work of its E-911 dispatchers and the vital role they play in public safety. Anyone interested in learning more about being an E-911 dispatcher can call 601-482-7559.