DETROIT – When you call 911 in Detroit, someone is on the other end of the line ready to help, but most of us never see the faces behind those voices.
This week, the Detroit Fire and Police Departments are recognizing the men and women who staff the city’s emergency communications center as part of National Telecommunicators Week.
The dispatchers and call takers work around the clock, answering calls, gathering critical information, and guiding residents through some of the most intense and chaotic moments of their lives.
“When someone calls 911, we are the first voice they hear,” said Charlene Gross, a Detroit 911 call taker who has been on the job for seven years.
Gross said her focus is always on quickly getting the details needed to send help as fast as possible.
On the fire communications dispatch floor, supervisors like Lt. Antoinette Smith oversee teams handling multiple emergency situations at once.
“We work for the people. We are the unsung heroes that you don’t see,” Smith said, describing a job that requires constant multitasking, dispatching runs, monitoring responses, and staying alert to ensure nothing is missed.
The work is nonstop.
Commander Sonia Russell of the Detroit Police Department said the communications division handled about 1.3 million emergency calls last year, a volume that demands focus, speed, and professionalism.
“The men and women that work here have to be very passionate and very serious about what they are doing and what they are handling,” Russell said.
For dispatchers like Eric Brock, the mission is personal. “At the end of the day, I know I’m helping someone on the back end, because it could be my family or a friend of my family,” Brock said.
Staff members also shared that some of the hardest calls include walking residents step-by-step through lifesaving measures like CPR, while help is on the way.
Their message to Detroiters: if you ever need to call 911, stay calm and be as detailed as possible so police, fire crews, or paramedics can be dispatched quickly.
“You may not see us, but know that we are working for you at all times to get you the help that you need,” Smith said.