Ever hear a dispatcher laughing while dispatching a call?

[trace1]

Pain is rarely humorous except when it is truly a Kharmic payback from whatever force controls such things (or not). If you cannot laugh, you will burnout and beat your wife, drink too much or become overly religious (haha) which are all potentially bad things..

Folks in the emergency services get to see and do things that others never get to see or do, and you either love it or hate it. If you hate it get out- it will kill you if you don't.

Laughing at tragedy, it happens. thanks commstar your comments reminded me of a story that I'd like to share for the benifit of matthewpd.

I remember a day, way back when I was in Law Enforcement, I responded to an aircraft crash.

I was off-duty at the time, small Airport Police Department, there had been a small private plane that had made contact with the Air Traffic Control Tower and declared an In-Flight Emergency. Moments later it disappeared from radar. I was sent in one direction to look for the possible location while the Airport Manager was sent in another direction.

About 10 miles from the airport I arrived at a location where there were local VFD personnel that were already on scene of the crash. As we approached the scene there were no signs or sounds of life and upon looking at the wreckage it looked like there was no way there could be any survivors. At the time we weren't sure of just how many people may have been onboard but you know that there had to be at least one, the pilot. However we did notice that in the trees above our heads were what looked like strands of human flesh and remains.

You still have to go on or in a rescue mode though and once the pieces of the aircraft were being moved we noticed the tops of two heads. So, now we know that there was at least two persons aboard and again the chances of survivors went down drastically. Once more parts of the wreckage were moved and we went into a recovery mode the remains of the two individuals were picked up piece by piece by piece.

You couldn't tell which piece went to which body and with the strands of remains in the trees above our heads I heard one of the persons on scene make a comment sort of like this, "Well at least the critters will eat good tonight."

Now while that seems uncaring, unsympathetic, and quite cold it was quite humorous at the time. On scene we all had a job to do and we all did it well and to the best of our abilities. It was later that night that I was all alone in my apartment and was thinking about what I had done that day and I just broke down crying and wondering about what might have been the last thoughts of the two men that were killed. It turned out that they were future Father-In-Law/Son-In-Law. And so while this terrible tragedy affected the two families directly and those on scene as well the comic relief was needed to maintain our sanity.

So yes, you may very well hear a dispatcher laughing or see a couple of those first responders/rescue personnel smiling at the scene of something very violent and disturbing. Until you've been there and done that you won't understand.

 

[MaxMan1986]

Well said, trace1. I've experienced enough deaths in my family to know that laughter sometimes really is the best medicine in tough situations. Thinking back to some of the funerals I've attended, the most memorable moments were also the funniest.

 

[trace1]

Well said, trace1. I've experienced enough deaths in my family to know that laughter sometimes really is the best medicine in tough situations. Thinking back to some of the funerals I've attended, the most memorable moments were also the funniest.

Just thought I'd add this too, many weeks after this aircraft crash I went to a Political Rally and they were having a pig roast. As soon as they starting serving the roasted pig, by tearing off the meat from the bones I was quickly reminded of those two men and how they were recovered. I just had to turn and walk away without eating anything.

From time to time now, even though it has been many years since that crash, when I hear or see about a small plane crash I sometimes relive a few moments of that day.

 

[HarryWilly]

Dispatcher was dispatching a call and was having a hard time not laughing...

Got toned out as "Possible Illness or Injury". We we got there, victim's chief complaint was severe priapism. Guy was a frequent flyer who would call on the most mundane stuff for a free ride to the hospital but this time he was strongly concerned

 

[Matt93]

Once I heard a call go out to the first aid squad of a male with chronical diarea and the dispatcher could hardly contain himself as you can understand. [If you think the dispatcher was laughing hard, think of the officers on scene! LOL

 

[Stick0413]

Laughing at tragedy, it happens. thanks commstar your comments reminded me of a story that I'd like to share for the benifit of matthewpd.

I remember a day, way back when I was in Law Enforcement, I responded to an aircraft crash.

I was off-duty at the time, small Airport Police Department, there had been a small private plane that had made contact with the Air Traffic Control Tower and declared an In-Flight Emergency. Moments later it disappeared from radar. I was sent in one direction to look for the possible location while the Airport Manager was sent in another direction.

About 10 miles from the airport I arrived at a location where there were local VFD personnel that were already on scene of the crash. As we approached the scene there were no signs or sounds of life and upon looking at the wreckage it looked like there was no way there could be any survivors. At the time we weren't sure of just how many people may have been onboard but you know that there had to be at least one, the pilot. However we did notice that in the trees above our heads were what looked like strands of human flesh and remains.

You still have to go on or in a rescue mode though and once the pieces of the aircraft were being moved we noticed the tops of two heads. So, now we know that there was at least two persons aboard and again the chances of survivors went down drastically. Once more parts of the wreckage were moved and we went into a recovery mode the remains of the two individuals were picked up piece by piece by piece.

You couldn't tell which piece went to which body and with the strands of remains in the trees above our heads I heard one of the persons on scene make a comment sort of like this, "Well at least the critters will eat good tonight."

Now while that seems uncaring, unsympathetic, and quite cold it was quite humorous at the time. On scene we all had a job to do and we all did it well and to the best of our abilities. It was later that night that I was all alone in my apartment and was thinking about what I had done that day and I just broke down crying and wondering about what might have been the last thoughts of the two men that were killed. It turned out that they were future Father-In-Law/Son-In-Law. And so while this terrible tragedy affected the two families directly and those on scene as well the comic relief was needed to maintain our sanity.

So yes, you may very well hear a dispatcher laughing or see a couple of those first responders/rescue personnel smiling at the scene of something very violent and disturbing. Until you've been there and done that you won't understand.

Well said... It may seem cold, etc. but it is just keeping everyone sane. When it happens by no means does anyone saying the things or laughing mean any harm by it. It is just one of natures releases for a stressful situation.

 

[trexler]

Well said... It may seem cold, etc. but it is just keeping everyone sane. When it happens by no means does anyone saying the things or laughing mean any harm by it. It is just one of natures releases for a stressful situation.

I can say that as a Dispatcher, I have laughed on the Air, whether it was at a stupid/odd call or a joke that I had going with the officer/fire fighter/ems. I have had to laugh after taking my first rape call and I had to after talking down my first suicide caller. It is in those times that you have to find a small thing that is humorous and laugh about it (related to the situation or not). If you can't do that, you'll end up quiting as a dispatcher. No disrespect is meant by it.

 

[georgew0819]

"What makes me angry is they sound like they are laughing about what ever the emergency is they are calling out"

If that makes you angry what are you going to do when your on the receiving end of that laughter? Work in this field long enough and you'll make some pretty stupid mistakes, we all do from time to time!

Most times it will invovle you mispronouncing something. Or better yet you'll be heard over a hot mike putting your foot in your mouth. As pointed out by the many posts in this thread, stuff happens, laughter reliefs the stress. Learn to laugh and learn to be laughed at, and you'll enjoy a comradre you won't find in any civillian job.

 

[KG4KHQ]

Laughing

Here is what happened to me one night while dispatching a call. Like most CAD systems, we have caution or information indicators for certain addresses which contains information about weapons, vicious dogs, location of keys if needed to gain entry, resident on home oxygen..etc. I tell my trainees to look at these prior to dispatching the call but, this particular night, I did not do that myself, just did it on the fly as I was going along.

"....report of a domestic, no weapons reported and be advised that...(as I pull up the location information)...that...(laughter)....be advised that..(more laughter)....standby one...(stll laughing)....be advised that this residence is infested with...(still laughing)....this residence is infested with FLEAS...(really lost it by now).....of course the responding units could not let is pass...."Communications, could you repeat that, please?"

 

[APORATH]

I have been scanning for 5 years, and in my town laughing while dispatching is common.

 

[ranger_joe]

I've been a police dispatcher for a few years, and... well, needless to say, if you listen closely to your scanner in Huntsville, you'll end up hearing some funny stuff. We try our best to be professional, but sometimes it doesn't work out. Then again, what I think is even funnier is when we're able to maintain our composure while giving out a hilariously worded call. A few examples I've heard at work...

"Caller advised he's standing outside and he's about to light himself on fire... Wouldn't give an exact location, just check the area for any subjects on fire."

"Caller is a white male, 5'8, with one leg... He'll be standing by on foot."

Then there was the time I screwed up a pronunciation in the worst possible way... We had a fight call at a Mexican restaurant called Las Piñas (as in, PEE - nyas, Spanish for pineapples). The name on the computer had no squiggly mark over the N, so I went with the correct Spanish pronunciation for the word as it was written. Unfortunately, and unknown to me until the instant after it came after my mouth, that pronunciation sounded exactly like "penis." I'm still remembered as the guy who said "las penis" on the radio.

I remember one of my fellow dispatchers losing it on the radio one day when he accidentally said on the radio that the calltaker couldn't get any information because the caller "speaks Mexican." He then fumbled his way through "Correction: the caller... the caller speaks Hispanic... I mean... the... the caller was hard to understand!" Just one of those things that doesn't sound all that funny if you weren't there, but for some reason it struck him as absolutely hilarious. Like the time an officer stopped a car on Sparkman Drive, and she pronounced it like "Shparkman." For whatever reason, that was the funniest darn thing to me, and it took me a good 20 seconds to regain my composure and acknowledge her traffic.

Dispatchers chatting gets out on the radio a lot for one reason or another. One day not long ago, one of my fellow dispatchers was training a newbie. The new guy was talking on the radio, but the trainer was plugged in as well, listening. Unfortunately for her, she forgot to turn her mute switch on, so as her trainee was giving out a BOLO for a robbery suspect, her conversation with the girl beside her about how much she loved that gold dress, and how she was going to buy it for her for her birthday, got out plain as day on the radio. And, of course, the phone calls came streaming in from officers wanting their gold dresses. That was classic.

Sometimes I think we have too much fun...

 

[kd7rto]

My all time favorite, Concord, California:

I was sitting at home, noticed several cops in the parking lot of the apartment complex, so I turned on my scanner and heard some lucky officer get this call:

“See the woman, reports a naked WMA (white male adult) outside her door, not well endowed.”

I don’t know about the dispatcher, but I sure heard those guys down in the parking lot bust up laughing.

 

[hoser147]

Heard one lose it laughin after one of here Units Radio'd in stating " Im at the Squad waiting on the hospital" after a few other units laughed out loud, he came back on and corrected himself, Im at the hospital waitin on the Squad.........

 

[kd4bas]

Teenager called 911. His parents were upstairs asleep, and he had gotten into the liquor cabinet. He was drunk, sick, and scared so he dialed 911. He didn't want his parents awakened.

Oops son, sorry for the sirens that woke up mom & dad, this is our protocol after all..............Right

 

[mrwilmoth]

yeah sometimes I laugh, and forget im on the air! uh was I open mike? lol