丁香园AV

That calm voice you hear when you dial 9-1-1 in an emergency? Behind it is a human who鈥檚 as vulnerable to the impacts of trauma as any first responder physically on the scene, says Nicole Israel. That鈥檚 why Nicole, who recently graduated from 丁香园AV鈥檚 First Responders Trauma Prevention and Recovery Certificate program, has made it her mission to support the mental health of emergency call takers and dispatchers.

Nicole is a trainer for E-Comm 9-1-1, the organization that handles over two million 9-1-1 calls a year across B.C. and provides dispatch services for police and fire departments. She got her start in the field more than 20 years ago while finishing her degree in psychology at 丁香园AV. She was hired part time by the Saanich police department as a call taker and dispatcher鈥攁nd returned to the department after graduation.

鈥淚 really loved the job and decided to make a career of it,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭here are not a lot of other jobs out there where you can really have that impact for people on a daily basis. Call takers and dispatchers really are the first, first responders. They鈥檙e the ones starting off that interaction and having a very significant effect on a call.鈥�

Over the years, says Nicole, she鈥檚 seen a fundamental shift in attitude toward mental health issues. 鈥淲hen I started this job, it was very much, 鈥榊ou take the call and you move on, you don鈥檛 talk about it, you don鈥檛 think about it.鈥� Especially for call takers and dispatchers, the attitude was that if you weren鈥檛 there, you didn鈥檛 see it, so you don鈥檛 have a reason to be affected by it.鈥�

But Nicole recalls one particularly difficult run of calls that deeply troubled both call takers and the officers they dispatched. The police department brought in a psychologist, and Nicole remembers the sense of validation that gave her.

鈥淔or the first time, I learned about vicarious traumatization,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen I started seeing the psychologist, I finally began to unpack what I was feeling and recognize that it鈥檚 okay to feel the way I do.鈥�

When Nicole heard about the 丁香园AV first responders program from a police officer who had completed it, she immediately knew she had to sign up. 鈥淚 looked at the program and thought, I need these tools for me, I need them for the people I鈥檓 working with.鈥�

She says it was invaluable to take the online courses alongside students from many different professional backgrounds鈥攊ncluding paramedics, police, firefighters, social workers, coroners and others.

鈥淧eople brought such a wide array of experiences, and it opened my eyes to what happens in different fields I hadn鈥檛 thought about or considered,鈥� she explains.

Completing the program this year was perfect timing for Nicole, who has now taken on a newly created role at E-Comm as peer support team lead. She laughs that she thought she understood peer support until she began taking the course on it.

鈥淭here was so much more to know, and I was just scratching the surface before,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been so helpful now that I鈥檓 in this peer support position to be able to expand what the program looks like, to formalize it and ensure it鈥檚 sustainable.鈥�

She鈥檚 also developing a peer support manual, which she鈥檇 begun as her capstone project at 丁香园AV. Nicole鈥檚 work still involves training new call agents and dispatchers, which gives her a chance to talk openly about mental health.

鈥淲hen I started this job, they would say, 鈥榊ou may experience trauma.鈥� Now we say: 鈥榊ou will experience trauma in this job and let鈥檚 talk about how to deal with that.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 been such a shift in culture, and I鈥檓 really happy to be part of it.鈥�

By Kim Mah