Letter To The Editor

Good Morning,

I just wanted to write and tell you how much I have enjoyed Vicki Maguire’s [IAED^™ Medical Curriculum Council Chair and IAED Emergency Medical Dispatch Master Instructor] class. I have taken many of these trainings over the years, and I wanted to share a little of my back story because it truly does drive my commitment to public safety and my firm belief in the IAED and all they do.

I began my career in the year 2000. I was trained on ProQA^® from the start but moved to Georgia (USA) in 2003 to get married. My new agency did not use ProQA or NAEMD^™ at all and had outdated flip books that were just awful. The dispatchers never even opened them, and their caller interrogations were on the fly. I hated it. Particularly the scene safety issues, which I feel are so critical!

In the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2005, my supervisor, Kerri, and I were heading to work as we commuted together from our little town to Thomas County, Georgia, about 18 to 20 minutes east of us. Long story short, a log truck turned over in front of us, causing us to collide with the bottom side of its overturned trailer. About 30 seconds later, a fully loaded tanker topped the hill at full speed and crashed into us.

Because this occurred on the county line, both agencies were dispatched. However, the county we lived in arrived first, determined they had a DOA (Dead on Arrival), and sat for 18 minutes on brand new extraction apparatus waiting for Thomas County to arrive. Both truck drivers were up and walking around, and they had no clue I was in that van.

Fortunately, as Thomas firefighters began to arrive, one of them recognized the front plate on my car and started calling names. He knew Kerri and I rode together every day. He called for Kerri first with no response; then he called my name and I recognized his voice immediately. I said, "Shelley, is that you?" He said yes, and I then asked him not to leave me.

It took 2.5 hours for them to extricate me from the wreckage. I spent 30 days in ICU, four years in a wheelchair, countless hours of painful physical therapy, and nearly 20 years of reconstructive orthopedic surgeries on my arms and legs. I came back to work within about three months (modified schedules, of course), but I returned determined to be a far better calltaker/dispatcher than I had been before. I was determined to provide the best possible customer service I could give, gather as much information as I could to be sure all responders were safe and informed, and ensure that the citizens got the help they needed.

In 2021, I took a job with a police agency handling NCIC in order to care for my terminally ill husband. This allowed me more time at home, including nights and weekends, and it was needed at the time.

I cannot tell you how happy and excited I am to wear a headset once more and return to my first and most passionate calling as a calltaker. I am even happier that I will be using IAED protocols and ProQA with my new agency. This agency is new to the protocols, and I am excited to help make them love it. I have worked with and without IAED protocols, and I much prefer to work with it. I hope to be an asset to my new agency and to help my new co-workers learn to TRUST the protocols and eventually embrace their effectiveness.

Tonda Tucker Schneider
911 Calltaker and Certified Trainer (CTO)
Bay County Emergency Services

Contributors to the Journal of Emergency Dispatch represent a diverse group of people, including Emergency Dispatch professionals, public safety professionals, and those with an interest in research. The Journal chooses to include articles from guest authors to provide our readers with an opportunity to hear from those in the field, read first-hand thoughts and experiences, and include information beneficial to those working in the Emergency Dispatch profession.
(Note: Content submitted by contributors reflects the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch^®, the Journal of Emergency Dispatch, or its staff.)