Random Thoughts From an Old-Timer

Written by Ruth Lagerquist, Decmber 20, 2021

You’ve been there HOW LONG?!

Thirty four years. Yep, you read that right. I started in Dispatch at a small agency in a remote county in northeast Montana in 1986. I had no idea what I was getting into, and really had no idea what the job entailed. In Montana in the 1980s, dispatching was nothing like it is now. I knew the supervisor at the 911 center, I painted ceramics at her home once a week or so (and yes, it was totally a social thing then). I asked her if they needed any help at dispatch; my kids were in school now and I needed something to do. “Sure, come on up”, she said.

When I arrived at the office, she showed me around and asked when I could start. A few days later, I joined her in the office for my full two weeks of training. Two weeks. She sat me in front of the NCIC computer, tossed the humongous code book on the desk, and said, “Just run everyone you know.”. My first shift was the four hours at the end of her night shift so she didn’t have to see the “gal that was giving her problems”. Really, it was all uphill from there.

A few weeks later, she gave me a job application, and told me to fill it out. Under a new supervisor a few years later, I was honored to be a member of the Charter Telecommunicator Class #1 at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in 1989.

We answered the phone, got information on what and a where, then pushed multiple buttons multiple times to manually page the fire department or each individual EMS responder. Nothing more than that; no extra questions, no additional information, and no call standards. Law enforcement was called by dialing their home phones. Sometimes they weren’t home to answer the calls, so on to the next on the list. The Sheriff’s Office call list started with the Sheriff, and we worked our way down to the Reserve Deputy (but I was told later that he was not allowed to go on calls- he only helped with parking at the school football games…). There really was no extra training, you learned as you went. We even kept our own internal county 10-28 rolodex from receipts on license plates, and I started a resource file so we knew who to call for weird things.

Our emergency phone was a red rotary on the wall, its phone number was actually a town Fire Department’s designated number, but morphed into everyone’s easy-to-remember emergency number in the county- 765-1234. In 1998, after much checking and rechecking of all addresses, our county got Basic 9-1-1. No one knew how to dial just three numbers to get help, so we made our own educational pamphlets and sheets on emergency calling. I took the first 9-1-1 call in Sheridan County; EMS was needed for an elderly man, and I still have a copy of the printout on that call.

Computers? Fah! We typed our logs on an electric typewriter, and had one-inch wide tapes on a 16 inch spool housed in a six foot tall cabinet for call recording. Each tape had to be manually changed every 24 hours, (I will never forget the fft fft fft fft fft sound of a tape running out in the middle of a call).  Before I started in 1986, NCIC (and state CJIS) came through a hardline to an old DOS computer, and all queries and entries were formatted manually by us. No pre-formats for anyone in Montana, and it all was auto-printed on a thermal printer. When I started, we had just upgraded to a formatted screen and dot matrix printer. I wanted to learn the keystrokes, to limit use of the mouse, and it payed off. One day, our monitor went down. A new monitor had to be brought from 500 miles away, so we would be “blind” for 3 days or so. An officer wanted me to run a driver’s license, so I closed my eyes and used keystrokes to get where I hoped I needed to be… and the printer spit out the 10-31!!  Win! I even remember when III was only used by a few states- and we kept a list when someone new was added.

Now there’s computer alarm systems, computer radios, computer 9-1-1 phones, computer aided dispatch, and computer…..everything! Cell phones, Windows programs, touch screens, passwords, texts, and EMD. Procedures and policies were made, then updated, then changed, then updated again. Updated CJIS systems, updated cell phones (had to ditch the flip phone), and updated requirements and public expectations sprouted and grew. Our office moved and changed, expanded and changed again. Our 9-1-1 went from a tiny 286 computer shared with four other counties, to multiple stations and mobiles, accessed with WiFi and VPN and other acronyms, through unseen magical ways. Of course, 9-1-1 misdials and their associated problems grew just as fast, if not faster.

Thank goodness training has also been updated and changed, growing with 9-1-1 needs and wishes. Virtual education was added to in-person trainings. 2020 brought even more virtual training, which is great for us- a small agency that is hundreds of miles from anywhere or anything.

Looking back, I am amazed how far we have come, and how much I have learned. I have worked under five supervisors (one for 25 years!) and with five long-term Sheriffs. I think that I am keeping up with the constantly changing world of Dispatch/9-1-1/Emergency Communications, and I know that I learn something new every day. I have also learned my own way to handle the vicarious trauma that our job brings, as well as job stresses, and we all have stress, even if we are only waiting for a call to come in. I have adapted to 34 years of rotating shifts, took two years off in the 2000s, and came back intermittent/part time, and back to full time.

I love my husband, my family, my job, my agency, my supervisor, my coworker, and, most importantly, my community. The jokes are swirling about how I “came with the courthouse” and I “may just take the last 9-1-1 call, too!”. I am certainly not phased by the dinosaur and stone tablet comments either, and join in with my “these kids nowadays” comments and hearty sighs. But, who are the first people to come in for a local history lesson and who is related to whom? I have worked with many Dispatchers, Officers, and Responders over the years; some more memorable than others, and so are the calls.

What I’d really like to tell everyone is that you need to do what you love to do. If there are problems, dramas, or issues, it is up to you to make yourself happy. Can you change things? If so, do it! If you cannot change things you have to decide if you’ll be happy living with it. If not, find somewhere else or something else to be happy.

Life is too short not to be happy.

I have a life motto. My motto (thanks for Robert Fulgum) is “Live a balanced life; learn some and think some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work every day some”, and I would add to that … DO IT! (while I calculate when my 50 year job anniversary will be...).

Thank you, Ruth for sharing your story with us. If you are interested in writing a blog, please email 911derWomen@gmail.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.