News Photo by Reagan Voetberg On Saturday, United States Representative Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, met with Alpena Central Dispatch employees to recognize National Public Safety Telecommunicators week and discuss concerns of dispatchers.

ALPENA — April 12 to 18 was National Public Safety Telecommunicators week, celebrating the unseen heroes of 911 dispatch centers across the country.

At the Alpena 911 Central Dispatch, Lead Dispatcher Rory Sherwood, and dispatchers Jonathan Sanchez and Adam Lumsden, said that the best part of their job is serving the public.

“I really like the ability to help people,” Lumsden said. “We don’t get a lot of recognition, but we’re not in it for that, but it is very rewarding knowing that we do get to help people that truly need help.”

“Just being able to help people and get them the help they need when they’re at their worst,” Sanchez said.

Renee Szymanski, a dispatcher for Presque Isle County, has worked as a dispatcher for 32 years. She said her job has always been her calling.

“For me I feel like that’s the place I was always meant to be. I genuinely still love what I do after so many years, it’s somewhat unusual anymore,” she said. “Just being the calm voice at the other end, it makes a difference for people.”

Lumsden has worked as a dispatcher for 13 years. He is the senior dispatcher at Alpena Central Dispatch and helps train new dispatchers.

“There’s been some funny (calls),” he said. “There have been some great outcomes and those are the good memories. And then there are ones that are less good memories.”

“People call for silly mistakes or we’re able to help them out of a tough situation that had potential to be bad, but by the end of it you’re all laughing together,” Lumsden said. “It’s helpful to be able to help a person out of a situation that’s sticky.”

Sherwood said his most memorable call happened when someone reported a sasquatch outside of their house.

“We had to go chase Sasquatch away, so I always kind of chuckle about that one,” he said.

Szymanski said she remembers a string of events that affected her.

“It seemed like everyday I opened up the newspaper where the person had passed away,” she said. “So that was difficult starting out in that career as a young woman and feeling like I could always do more.”

She also remembers hearing over the radio the two recent officer involved shootings in Alpena, one on Thanksgiving day and the other just a few days before Christmas.

“Some other incidents that will always stand out in my mind are the officer involved shootings and hearing the words ‘shots fired, shots fired’ over the radio,” she said. “Those are the words that a dispatcher never wants to hear.”

Dispatchers face both highs and lows in their work. A call that leads to saving a life can be motivating. A call that turns for the worse can be distressing, but can prompt a dispatcher to learn from their mistakes.

“I always try to do my best on every single call,” Sherwood said. “When you get the saves, those are fantastic. And you know we kind of relish those when we get them. When we don’t, unfortunately, I know that I did the best I could with what situation I was given and you know you learn from it and try to do better the next time.”

“If the outcome is not good, it can be very emotional,” Lumsden said. “It can be difficult. We again, we are human. Some people have to seek help, some people have outlets, some people, we bounce things off each other. And here we are our own support system, as well.”

“I’ve had some really good outcomes, and that always makes you feel good, that’s always good in itself despite all the stress that comes with it,” Szymanski said. “We don’t always talk about our bad calls with our family, but we do talk about it with each other. They are our second family, we understand each other more than anyone.”

Reagan Voetberg. News Staff Writer. rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.