You know 9-1-1, those three lifesaving numerals. And you know to use them when something is really, really wrong.
Like when a law is being broken or someone has been hurt and in need of emergency care or when one person is threatening other people, and those scenarios are only a few of the reasons why people dial those three digits.
9-1-1.
And Theresa Russell, a native of North Wheeling, has been the lady in charge of those three digits so long she was referred to initially as the “Public Safety Dispatch Supervisor” before the higher-ups cut the crap and started referring to her simply as the 9-1-1 Director. Ohio County’s dispatch center, located in the basement of the Ohio County Courthouse at 1500 Chapline Street, is a 24-hour service and she and her dispatchers were honored last week during National Telecommunications Week.
Why?
Well, have you ever heard a frantic person describing their house is on fire? How about an uncle who accidentally shot themselves in the cheek? A mother calling about her son turning blue during an overdose? Or a child screaming about their parents beating each other?
Or, have you heard an elderly woman call for an ambulance for her dead husband? A crash victim who was mashed into a median? Or have you taken a call from a suicidal individual simply searching for someone to talk?
Be sure Theresa Russell has, and so have her staff members, and while you would have no idea how to react or respond, she and her fellow dispatchers must. That is why, for several years now, 9-1-1 dispatchers throughout the state of West Virginia have been lobbying to be considered pension-wise as, officially, “EMS first responders” in state code.
Russell, her Ohio County dispatchers, and 9-1-1 personnel throughout the Mountain State are, after all, literally THE FIRST to respond, correct?
What is the biggest difference today in your childhood neighborhood?
I grew up in North Wheeling at a time when it landmarked Washington Grade School, Wheeling Hospital and its nurse’s residence, Sacred Heart Grade School and Sacred Heart Church, Dotty’s and Delmonte’s Restaurants, Margie’s Food Mart, two Ross’s food stores (where you could forge a note from your mom and charge “stuff” on their weekly food bills), and Wilson playground just to name a few. Friends lived on every block!
With the exception of Wilson playground, all that remains are fond memories of a great era.
What is the best advice you have ever offered a younger person?
I would have to say that the best advice that I believe to have ever offered is: If you don’t really know what it is that you want to do with your life after high school? Choose a trade skill!
Something that you can take with you wherever you may want locate that would gain you immediate employment! Trade laborers are necessary wherever you wind up.
What sport did you play when you were a kid and were you any good? Please explain.
Wweell, as memory serves, I think it was in fifth grade when I attempted girls’ softball.
Although I made it through a season, I say “attempted” because I’m a lefty who absolutely could not master the ability to catch the ball in my left hand and throw with my right hand! I recall my coach always joking, “catch the ball, take of the glove, and throw the ball!”
Haha … he was obviously a very patient coach!
What has been the most frightening 9-1-1 call you have ever taken as a dispatcher? Please explain.
This is a tough one because I really feel that I have trained my brain to only remember the ones that turn out for the best.
But personally, the most frightening for me would be a call that I took early on when I was new at the job. I took a call from the neighborhood where I lived. The caller said that a young boy was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. I knew my sons were out riding their bikes when the call came in. My professional side told me that I had to get the call out with no emotion, but the mother in me was scared that it could be my child.
I thought that I had done well but the paramedics who responded must have thought otherwise because they came across a private radio channel shortly after arriving on scene and said, “Theresa, you can breathe now! It’s not one of your kids!”
Whew.
Finish this sentence: ‘I’m so old, I remember when …’
Being a kid didn’t mean you got an allowance!
If you wanted spending money to buy candy, pop, chips, or just whatever, you went around the neighborhood and collected pop bottles that you could cash in for .10 cents each!
