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14 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday April 23, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com They are the first to answer a call for help By Joanna Phillips SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Love the messengers, hate the message. Last week was National Communicator Week in recognition of the role 911 communicators play in responding to emergencies. Without the messenger, the message, often indicative of a life-threatening situation, is lost. In 2007, 911 communicators at the Halton Regional Police communication centre answered 380,932 calls, of which 97,790 were emergency 911 calls. Terri Cordiner is one of four supervisors at the communication centre. The centre, located at "We never know when we're answering the phone what we're getting into. Each situation is as individual as the individuals that call us." Terri Cordiner, communications centre supervisor the Halton Regional Police headquarters on Bronte Road, recently underwent an $80,000 renovation. "We never know when we're answering the phone what we're getting into," she said. "Each situation is as individual as the individuals that call us." And the staff is well equipped to deal with that. HALTON LINEN OUTLET Decorating a bedroom can be expensive BUT not at Halton Linen Halton Linen where your decorating dollar goes further! New n! ocatio 1360 Speers Road, L Voted Oakville's Best Linen Shop e ouse Ware h very Sal E y! Da MON. - FRI. 10 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. SATURDAY 10 A.M.-5 P.M. SUNDAY. CLOSED Oakville 905-847-2274 Staff member Glenn Millar once asked a caller, "Where are you?" At first, the woman was so panicked Millar couldn't understand her. Eventually, Millar was able to calm the caller down enough to find out she was calling to report someone had assaulted her boyfriend with a baseball bat. "We forget just how people are feeling at their moment of crisis," said Cordiner. Sometimes a bad call becomes too much for a dispatcher. Usually, walking it off helps, says Cordiner. Luckily, Cordiner says, her team is like a family and has the "wherewithal to deal with stuff." Sometimes "black humour" does the trick. There is also EAP (Employee Assistance Program) for formal support. The pace is what's stressful, says Cordiner. "The stress comes from where it's cumulative," she said. During the Sheridan College lockdown in February, sparked by the sighting of an alleged gunman, the Centre received 400 calls in two hours. The team experiences a sense of relief, however, when quick, smart responses lead to breaks in cases. A woman called from a cell phone and all she could LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER CAN I HELP YOU?: Leanne Ball, a 911communicator for 23 years, monitors calls in the communications centre at the Halton Regional Police Administration headquarters. say was "help me," before the line went dead. With breakthroughs in technology adopted by Fido, the cell phone carrier, the communications centre determined from which direction of a tower site the woman had called. The communication centre contacted Fido, and found a home address listed under the cell phone owner's name, and gave it to police. It was the winter, there were no footprints outside the house, and the mail was piled up, as the story goes. Still, police broke down the door, and found a woman who had been held captive there for three days, and beaten, by her estranged husband. It is now possible for people to get help anywhere thanks to the Mobile Command Unit that travels to major events or declared emergencies. The Mobile Command Unit is an RV that's been custom-designed for use, and has an internal phone system, self-contained wireless network, and full biohazard kits underneath. It also has amenities like a washroom, kitchen, DVD playback, a whiteboard, which is hooked up to a laptop, and a regular television. The Mobile Command Unit has been in service since 2002. It has been used 11 times for calls within Halton and has attended 13 special community events.