When emergency strikes, the first people you think of are the police, fire or EMS personnel.

But the person many overlook as the real first responder is the 911 dispatcher who picks up the emergency call.

Recently, Carbon County officials honored the men and women who serve as dispatchers at the 911 Communications Center, manning the phones round-the-clock and handling thousands of calls a year.

Daisy Serrano is one of those dispatchers, answering calls for the last six years, with three of those as a senior dispatcher. She says the job prepares you for every thing.

“I chose this field mainly because I wanted to help people,” she said, noting that her interest wasn’t being one of the responders out in the field or in a hospital setting, but before responders arrived. “I wanted to see what led up to that point (of the emergency). You know, when you first start dialing 911.

“I wanted to be that calming voice and that guidance that most people needed.”

Serrano said that no two days are alike; however, dispatchers have to know how to help the caller on the other end of the line no matter if it is a medical emergency where they have to talk someone through administering CPR or a fire.

“You never know what to expect or know what’s going to be happening on the other end. There are so many different type of callers, so many different personalities that I get to deal with.

Over the years, the dispatchers have dealt with calls for most everything, from a bear in a swimming pool to a mother in labor who isn’t going to make it to the hospital before the baby is delivered.

On the wall in the 911 building, several plaques hang for the babies that were delivered with the help of a dispatcher and the lives saved through talking someone through CPR.

Some funny calls that stuck out to Serrano include ducks getting stuck, a bird is bothering me, snakes holding someone hostage in a car and even on occasion a child calling and asking for help with their homework.

“Kids know if you need help or if there is an emergency to call 911 so we have had some of those calls and we have helped children with homework issues,” she said. “They don’t know the gravity of what they’re calling for so as dispatchers, we don’t disregard it. We always help a child, even with the math or English homework. We’re always there.

“It’s a very fulfilling job. It’s very rewarding when you’re saving somebody, or when you are delivering babies, like it’s extremely rewarding, and every day, it’s a new adventure.”

Carbon County currently has 12 full-time and three part-time dispatchers who man the comm center 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Gary Williams, 911 director, commends the men and women for the thorough jobs they do daily.

He said the working environment at the center is more of a family, with many of the dispatchers staying for years.

“We hold onto people,” Serrano said. “We have somebody that’s been there for 25 years and then down to two years. We’re like a family. We require teamwork and rely on one another. We have such a good group of dispatchers.”

“At Carbon we don’t really have an issue (with people leaving),” Williams added. “It’s not like in other counties where they are down five or six. We have a good retention rate.”