Holtz has been working as a 911 dispatcher for five years.
In her role, she deals only with fire and medical-related calls, yet every day is still different.
(The below exchange details Holtzs personal experience and perspective.
Adobe Stock / spozhoga / Morgan Johnson
Her answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.)
SELF: What did your shifts look like before the pandemic?
:Before COVID-19, putting on my headset didnt seem so stressful.
Calls that have somebody pinned in a vehicle or needing CPR are more in the minority.
Decision-making felt easier before this too.
What does that look like in practice?
There are new ways to triage calls.
What used to be considered a core complaint might now have to go through this protocol instead.
Now I immediately go to the pandemic protocol because chest pain is a symptom of COVID-19.
Were trying to get clearer answers on whether or not COVID-19 is a relevant factor in the callers circumstance.
The challenge is that not everybody understands their body or their symptoms.
Whats the risk assessment before sending in first responders?
But its not a perfect system.
With that said, we do act as if everybody has it.
We ask if they have a face mask and if they can meet the first responders outside.
Thats a whole other can of worms because you have people who are disabled or have mobility issues.
Or people who are homeless who dont have face masks.
But nothing you’ve got the option to say will keep us from helping you.
We wont withhold help from anybody.
Have you noticed any differences in the calls youre answering during the pandemic?
At first we had a reduced call volume because fewer people were out doing things.
Most people were staying home andflattening the curve.
But since were starting to open our parks and beaches, we are seeing calls pick back up again.
Some callers worry they have the virus because of what theyve heard about symptoms.
Others may ask, Does this mean I have the virus?
Then some callers take a simple inquiry as an accusation.
Of course, were not accusing anyone of having anything, but we have to ask about it.
Every call has an underlying tone of fear.
I have also noticed a lot moremental-health-related calls.
With this pandemic, Ive taken a few suicide-related calls.
While thats still the minority, Im seeing more of it than I used to.
Its very indicative of how everyone feels.
How are you determining what constitutes an emergency at this time?
When you call 911, my job is never to decide who gets help and who doesnt.
We decide the level of the emergency based on the answers you give over the phone.
Whats the atmosphere like at work right now?
How are you and your team coping?
Its definitely a different energy.
We have a hard timetheface masksmake it hard to talk.
I dont think people realize we work in a loud environment.
Theres always background noise.
But we cant see each others mouths with our masks on, so were having a tough time communicating.
Its an added stress level.
Every team-bonding experience we have revolves around food.
The good thing is we are all communicators to some degree, so thats what we do.
We talk about our calls with each other.
The team morale is strong.
Were leaning on that solidarity and familiarity with each other.
But were also trying hard not to overwhelm anybody because we are all facing extrastressin our own personal lives.
If someone needed to call 911 right now, what would you want them to know?
If we are asking you something it means we absolutely have to.
Its not because we dont like you or because were deciding whether or not were going to help you.
It really makes me sad that my callers are worried that they wont get the help that they need.
Its not making me sad to the point where I wont do it, but it nags at me.
Its terrible that you need help and youre worried.
We know you have more important things to do.
Every single call I take is important.
