On The Other Side Of The Call

Acting Sergeant Tim Clover didn’t set out to work in emergency services. He loves flying planes and has an associate’s degree in aviation management. It’s his passion.

“In my twenties, I learned the difference between a passion and a calling,” he said. “And dispatch has definitely been my calling.”

Clover’s career journey started when he began working as a patient transporter at Mercy Hospital (St. Louis, Missouri, USA), taking people where they needed to go by wheelchair and gurney. Part of his job duties specified that he should carry a radio, and one day he became curious: What other departments had radios? Whose voices was he hearing? Clover asked this question to one of the police officers at the hospital, who asked in turn if he would be interested in dispatching.

“I applied, and before I knew it, I was handed a polo, and they told me I started next week,” Clover recalled. 

He now has over 20 years’ experience on both sides of the radio and is a certified EMD, EFD, and EPD working at St. Louis University in addition to being an ETC Instructor for the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch^® (IAED^™) and a BLS Instructor for the American Heart Association.

On Dec. 5, 2025, at around 9:00 p.m., Clover’s hands-on lifesaving skills as an Emergency Dispatcher were put to the test. He was driving on Illinois Interstate 255 with his mother when he saw a car in a ravine. Pulling over near another car that had its emergency flashers on, Clover could now see that the car in the ravine had gray smoke coming from the hood. He spoke to the other stopped passerby who was already on the phone with 911.

“I asked if there was anybody in the car, and he said he didn’t know,” Clover said. “As a first responder, we know not to assume, right?”

As soon as Clover heard this response, he started heading toward the vehicle, calling out to any potential passengers to get out of the car. The driver’s side door opened, and a man staggered out and then slumped down on the ice and water in the ravine. At this point, flames were coming out of the front of the car, and the patient appeared to be unconscious, not responding to any of Clover’s questions.

Knowing that the victim would be unlikely to climb out of the ravine on his own, Clover made the decision to put himself in harm’s way to help. He approached the man, flipped him over, and began pulling him up the incline, the snow and ice making an already difficult job even more treacherous.

“I’ll tell you, pulling this guy 60 yards from his car inches at a time, it was the longest time of my life,” Clover said.

Finally, Clover heard sirens and saw lights approaching, signaling that his counterparts in the 911 center had successfully completed their part of the chain of survival. He found himself answering questions from the state troopers that he was used to asking over the phone. The patient was transported to the hospital in an ambulance, and Clover was left to process the event physically and emotionally.

The experience is only one of many that has Clover pondering over the difference between being certified and being proficient.

“I would ask other Emergency Dispatchers what they’ve done to get higher scores with quality assurance,” he said. “How long ago did you do your CPR training? How ready would you honestly feel to be thrown into a situation like this without any warning?”

To hear Clover’s story in his own words, check out his episode of Dispatch in Depth: aedrjournal.org/on-the-other-side-of-the-call-with-tim-clover