EDC Airmen on frontlines of base emergencies

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Wesley Wright
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The phone rings at the emergency dispatch center here. 

Dispatch: "911, state your emergency." 

Caller: "My child is choking on his dinner! Help!" 

Dispatch: "Sir, I'm going to need you to remain calm. I have ambulance services on the line and they will assist you."

Nobody calls 911 on a good day. Often, 911 calls are frantic and involve life and death situations. Dealing with those situations requires a calm, level-headed person who can deal with the stress and take control.

Meet the Airmen at the 5th Civil Engineer Squadron emergency dispatch center here. They are the frontline of response and assistance for many emergency situations on the base and are specially trained to deal with stressful life and death circumstances.

"Information has to come in some way so we're the center of information for pretty much everything," said Staff Sgt. Eduardo Castro, 5th CES alarm room operator. "We are here to support the base in whatever way we can. Oftentimes, it's something that is serious or has the potential to be very serious. It requires us to stay on top of our game."

The "serious issues" the EDC handles includes fire prevention and protection, rescue, hazardous materials response and much more.

"When we get phone calls, people's stress levels are already through the roof and their anxiety is up," said Staff Sgt. Sherry Walkup, 5th CES alarm room dispatcher. It's up to us to figure out what assistance is required and how to get that to them as fast as possible."

In addition to fielding emergency phone calls, the EDC Airmen are responsible for a host of other duties, which includes the Monaco system. The Monaco system is a computerized display linked all the fire alarms in military buildings on the base.

The EDC's responsibilities are not limited to the base, however, as they can also receive emergency calls from the missile fields and other remote parts of North Dakota.

"If there was a fire at or near the missile fields we would get with the surrounding community's dispatch center for help and possibly send our trucks as well," Sergeant Walkup said.

Sergeant Walkup said she even had one circumstance where she fielded an emergency call through OnStar from someone stuck in a ditch near Bismarck, N.D.

"Apparently, our dispatch center was the closest one that came up in their system," Sergeant Walkup said. "We were glad to help."

Speed and efficiency are key to success, according to the EDC Airmen.

"We try to get people help as fast as we can," said Sergeant Walkup. "When I field a call I don't hang up until I'm sure the person is being helped by the appropriate agency. If we have multiple calls coming in it raises the stakes and requires a calm, efficient operator who can prioritize."

While challenging, the job does has its rewards.

"The most rewarding part of my job is coming to work every day knowing I can make a difference," Sergeant Walkup said. "I enjoy providing help and assistance to those who need it. I get fulfillment from my job every day."

Sergeant Castro echoed, saying, "Just knowing people are being taken care of and that I had a part in that is all the reward I need," he said.

As ambulance services arrive on the scene and the life of a young child choking on his food is saved, a father sheds a tear of relief and an alarm room dispatcher smiles. It's just another day on the job for the men and women at the emergency dispatch center here.