A Dispatcher's Story of Resilience: Hurricane Helene and the Unsung Heroes Behind the Headsets
Written by Amayrani Padilla Cortes
Hello everyone, I am a dispatcher for Buncombe County, North Carolina, and have been working there for over eight years. During my career, I have experienced many critical incidents that range from homicides, officer involved shootings, suicides, etc. Just a little over a year and a half ago, my service dog Sophie came into my life to help me overcome the effects of my job. I am thankful that she was there with me during the hurricane. The following story is a little piece of what we experienced during Hurricane Helene.
Friday morning, we left our families behind to head into work amidst a ranging storm. None of us had any idea that this catastrophic storm had in store for us. As the rain intensified, calls started to flood in. Mandatory evacuations were issued across different areas of our city. Calls that began as an escort quickly escalated to swift water rescues. Many of us took those calls and sometimes heard them pleading for help just before the water or landslide took them away. The wind caused down power lines, trees, roads, and building damage.
All of us endure twelve hours of continuous traumatic calls and radio traffic. When I tell you twelve hours of nonstop calls, take a moment to reflect: How many calls were received each hour? I can tell you that the phone never stopped ringing for those twelve hours. We couldn’t even catch our breath before another critical incident call came in. Our center received so many 911 calls that were overflowing to several other centers. We are thankful for all the assistance we received from all the centers. In dispatch, not only did we get to intake our own calls, but we also had to process all the other calls coming in from the other centers. That is double, if not triple, the dispatchers' workload.
I am here to tell you that all those dispatchers have supernatural powers. To me, all those dispatchers are heroes. They are all heroes capable of managing chaos by providing a calm voice on the other side of the headset. Without their ability to handle all these calls and dispatch units, many more lives would have been lost. Witnessing my colleagues give their all during this disaster was both inspiring and heart-wrenching. The hurricane’s impact weighed heavily on all of us.
All of us were truly the golden bridge that connected our callers with the first responders. It has truly been an honor to witness everyone giving their 1000% during this catastrophic incident. My heart hurts to see our own suffering so much from the impact of this hurricane. When we ended our shift, we were in a state of shock and disbelief. The reality of the rising rivers was painfully evident in every call we received. As a dispatcher, we often envision worst-case scenarios, but this time, we couldn’t have imagined the true scale of the devastation that swept through the city. We held to the hope that our first responders would find more survivors.
On Saturday, our whole city was left without power, water, wifi, or cellphone service. Many of our first responders continued to do search and rescues. Our blood pressure was like a rollercoaster ride during the whole day. The phones continue to ring nonstop. This time, thousands of families are looking for their loved ones. Each time our officers found someone alive, we held our breaths, praying for the person to be rescued in time. There was a sense of relief once the person was brought to safety. Any time an officer located a victim, our hearts sank because it was an immediate thought: could it be one of the people we talked to? There was one 911 text that really left an impact on my life. During the storm, a pregnant female was giving birth to a breached baby. The road leading to their home was washed off and the only way to rescue them was by helicopter. I went home that day, hoping our responders would reach them in time. To my surprise and relief, the family was rescued, and a healthy baby girl was born. I hope that one day, god blesses me with meeting this little baby girl who brought hope during a hurricane.
As the days passed, we all continued to show up to perform our duty. Unfortunately, we faced the cruel reality that the death toll continued to rise. The long shifts began to take a toll on us physically and mentally. Just when we thought that we couldn’t go any longer, help arrived. The TERT teams from all over the US began to arrive to give some much-needed relief to our center. My heart was filled with joy to see all these amazing dispatchers willing to lend us a helping hand.
This experience transformed our understanding of resilience and community, reminding us of our critical role in crises. Anyone struggling after a catastrophe, please reach out. There is always someone there who is going through the same thing you are going through. 911 Heroes hang in there, we are stronger together. To Western North Carolina, every dispatcher provided the utmost compassion and fulfilled their duty to the best of their ability. Our hearts go out to all the 911 dispatchers, therapists, police officers, firefighters, forensics, and all our sister agencies that are helping us get through this.
To our first responders, keep your head up and be proud to have made a difference in someone’s life. Your duty was accomplished above and beyond. Please pray for these dispatchers to find peace in their hearts and minds.
*****Amayrani Padilla-Coretes is asking for your support. She encourages everyone to send a thank-you letter to dispatchers to show appreciation for their hard work. If you'd like to participate, please send her a message at Amayrani.Padilla-Cortes@buncombecounty.org. Let’s help these dispatchers feel truly valued******
Thank you, Amayrani for sharing your experience with us. If you are interested in writing a blog, please email amanda@911derwomen.com. Sign up for our newsletter on our homepage to stay up to date with 911der Women programming, exclusive content and blog updates. Click here and scroll to the bottom.