FBCSO dispatchers work around the clock to keep folks safe

Answering the phone inside the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office dispatch center is around the clock tough job. Jacqueline Marling knows how intense it can be. In the short time we were inside visiting with her, we witnessed her help multiple deputies on a chase.

“We do have a helicopter on that, we have our canine unit on that, we have our police out there, we have our car units out there so they set up a perimeter and they are searching now,” Marling says.

Marling has been in the business for two years now and says there will always be calls she will never forget. “I remember I was on the call taking side and I took a call that a 17-year-old found his mother in the bed not breathing and not alive and basically I had him do CPR,” says Marling.

Mindi Bartee, the development coordinator says, "It could be you know somebody takes off in pursuit or we have a bank robbery or whatever it may be, they have to be ready 24/7 with the radio.”

“They consider themselves the true first responders and they are. They are your first connection to public safety, to law-enforcement, to EMS, to fire, the only way you get help is to call 911,” says Major Chad Norvell.

A day in the life of a dispatcher can be difficult and emotionally tolling, but the strong at heart can handle the truly rewarding job where every day they are helping others.

“There’s a lot that it takes to be a dispatcher, like they always say not everybody could be a dispatcher, we have patrol units that I’m just like, I could not do what you do and we are just like I can’t do what you do,” says Marling.