LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Calls for help come into the LVMPD Communications Center 24 hours a day seven days a week, and the men and women working inside the buildings walls have to coordinate the emergency response to save lives.
In the last few months, calls have been wide ranging.
"We have motorcyclists down northbound 95 between College and Horizon. There's been a shooting," said one caller describing a biker gang shootout on the interstate.
When Detective Justin Terry's car was crushed by a falling steel beam in US 95, dispatchers tried collecting as much information as as quickly as possible in an attempt to save his life.
"Is he not breathing," one call receiver asked.
"We can't even get in there at all," the caller responded.
October 6 the dispatch center received 16 calls lasting more than an hour and 10 minutes in total with panicked bystanders and victims themselves reporting the man who'd just killed two people and injured six others running away.
"One girl, she's really bad," one caller said. "You've really got to get here."
Lymarie Wyche, Communications Supervisor at the communications hub, said before the workers are ready to tackle dozens of calls a day, they've got to prepare.
The department provides free training including a 10 week rigorous academy and a simulation period lasting as many as two years with the goal of keeping call takers and dispatchers calm in the face of pressure.
"You have to remove yourself from the situation," Wyche said. "We also teach that we can't control the outcome of everything. We can't control the dynamics of the event, but we can control what we're putting out there to officers so they stay safe."
Wyche said it's important that the communications staff is well prepared because police, fire, and medical response rely on accurate information to save lives.
"There's no way we could keep the officers and citizens safe without them," she said. "They are literally the first and primary point of contact with the public when it comes to a call for service."
Wyche said Metro Communications is actively hiring.
Applicants must be able to type 45 words per minute and have a high school diploma or GED.
She said anyone interested could apply through the LVMPD.com employment portal or email dispatchrecruitingteam@lvmpd.com.
For those who aren't sure if the job is right for them, Wyche said the department offers hour long observation sessions organized by emailing 911office@lvmpd.com.
