17-04-2025
National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week — A look inside Erie County 911 Call Center
Being a dispatcher is one of the most demanding and important jobs to keep the public safe.
'No day is the same,' said Tiffany Minteer, telecommunicator 4 at the Erie County 911 Call Center. 'It's not like what you see on TV. Not every single call you get is awful. In the four years that I've been here, there is one call that sticks with me.'
If there's an emergency, we are taught at a young age to dial 911.
This pivotal number connects us to someone who has the knowledge to guide us through our worst days.
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But what is it like to be on the other side of that phone call?
At the Erie County 911 Call Center, the telecommunicators work in pods — One for police and the other for fire.
The pods are broken down into sections in the county, and each console and call taker has their own duties.
'It's a very big team effort in there. If there's too much going o,n you have your other two pod mates there to assist you,' said Danielle Erdely, telecommunicator 4 at the Erie County 911 Call Center.
'The questions that we are asking are to get you the correct help. I know it can be frustrating because you're wanting that help and you're wanting it now,' said Minteer.
One of the toughest parts of Minteer's job is finding units to send to calls.
She said sometimes it can be a puzzle finding the closest available unit to send in a timely manner.
Once a call goes to the main 911 center, if it's in the Millcreek police response area, it gets redirected so they can dispatch the correct unit to handle the call.
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'Sometimes we have a slow day. I could probably answer maybe five, ten calls a shift. We could have a busy day where I could answer 40, 50, sometimes 60 calls, said Dan Dalleo, police dispatcher in Millcreek Township.
Dalleo said that something people may not understand is that dispatchers are normal people as well. Experiencing these calls can take a real mental toll …
'For me specifically, it's pediatric calls. Anytime something happens to a child, kind of hits home,' said Erdely. 'We're a big family out there, so talking with one another helps.'
One thing all of these dispatchers have in common — They want to make a difference in people's lives.
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