DISPATCHER SEES 911 FROM ANOTHER ANGLE; EMERGENCY CREWS SAVED RHONDA WESTRICH'S LIFE AFTER SHE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The importance of emergency 911 dispatchers hit deathly close to home two years ago for Rhonda Westrich, a 911 dispatcher herself.

Then 31 years of age, Westrich was off duty from her job at the Cape Girardeau Police Department when she suddenly underwent an early-morning heart attack at her Cape Girardeau home.

"I have no doubt that if it hadn't been for the police department on the night I got sick I wouldn't be (alive)," said Westrich. "I have no doubt.

"It's good to know we have competent people in there at that console because, upon receiving that call, the ambulance service was notified and the officers responded and CPR was administered."

Worsening the situation that morning, she said, was that her best friend and co-worker, Kim Conway, was the only dispatcher handling calls for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"You know that had to really be hard on her. There was no way she could leave and she had an emergency situation like that, and she still had to dispatch and take routine calls coming in," she said.

Westrich said she hadn't had a reason to need an ambulance or the police for a major incident until then. Never before had she had any heart problems, and until this day the reason for her attack remains unknown, she said.

Though taking care to note that she's concerned about emergencies relating to property, life-threatening emergencies are her number-one priority, she said.

She's had her share of those emergencies. One that comes to mind, she said, was an emergency two or three years ago where a Cape Girardeau toddler had swallowed a Christmas tree ornament and quit breathing.

"It's not a point of me saving someone's life because I didn't do it," she said. "I just sent people to them. Actually the officer who responded on the scene first was the one who saved the kid."

Helping out in an emergency like that gives a person a good feeling, unlike situations where nothing can be done, she said. That has happened too; about two or three years ago, Westrich said, she got a 911 call about a baby who had died from crib death.

"There's no success to that. There's nothing you can do," she said. Yet, she said she believes the job's successes far outweighs the setbacks.

Before beginning work as a dispatcher more specifically referred to as a "telecommunicator" at the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Westrich worked in the same capacity at the Sikeston Department of Public Safety for two years. Prior to that, she said, she worked as a telephone operator for Southwestern Bell.

Westrich said she likes being able to help people through her job, which she called both interesting and challenging. Emergency dispatchers, she said, can get information from a caller that the caller doesn't even realize they have.

"Basically, you've got everything at your fingertips to help someone when they need it. It can be pretty devastating to someone to have an emergency; and, if they have 911, they know they're going to get help right away."

She talks hesitantly about the drawbacks of her job, trying carefully to craft what she wants to say. Shift work is probably the worst part, she said. She and her husband, Dallas, have three children, ages 4, 9, and 11.

"Your stress factor goes up when you have those responsibilities with the responsibilities of this job. You better believe it does," she said.

Dispatchers at the police station work shifts from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 4 p.m. to midnight, and midnight to 8 a.m.

Stressing the emergency nature of 911, Westrich and her co-workers asked that people only use the number for in-progress calls where property or lives are in danger. Non-emergency and routine matters may be reported to the police department by calling 335-6621.