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Walworth County 911 center understaffed

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Terry Mayer / The Week

Walworth County 911 operator Peggi Kilpin works on four computers at the Walworth County law enforcement center in Elkhorn.

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Terry Mayer / The Week

Walworth County 911 operator Mandi Kolb at her station in the law enforcement center in Elkhorn.

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Terry Mayer / The Week

Walworth County 911 operator Peggi Kilpin and Captain Jay Maritz looking over the computer monitors in the 911 center in the law enforcement building in Elkhorn.

ELKHORN — Walworth County 911 dispatcher Peggi Kilpin remembers answering a call two years ago from a woman who had run over a young child.

The woman backed out of her driveway and hit her neighbor’s toddler boy. The boy’s mother tried to resuscitate her son, but he died at the scene.

“The children calls are very difficult,” said Kilpin, who has kids of her own. “It hit home.”

The stress of emotional calls and the pressure of handling multiple calls and not knowing the outcome of emergencies have contributed to 911 dispatchers recently quitting their jobs, Sheriff’s Capt. Jay Maritz said.

Walworth County is short three dispatchers, forcing other dispatchers to work overtime, he said. Most of the overtime is voluntary, but dispatchers sometimes are required to work extra hours.

New people will be hired and trained before the end of the year, Maritz said, and the center has been able to meet its minimum staffing requirement to handle emergency calls.

“It’s been a little bit harder for the dispatchers,” he said. “They’ve had to work a little bit more overtime to cover the shifts.”

The county has 14 of 17 dispatchers needed on its staff, Maritz said.

Although the 911 center typically loses one person a year, two dispatcher trainees quit in the spring when a third position already had been vacant, he said.

“This really is rare,” Maritz said. “To be three short is a little bit different.”

The 911 center is in a room on the second floor of the Law Enforcement Center along County NN. Dispatchers have six work stations, each with four computer screens that display a variety of programs.

The center handles all cell 911 calls and landline 911 calls in the county, except landline calls from Lake Geneva, Delavan and Whitewater. Those cities have their own dispatch centers.

The county also dispatches for about 25 different fire, police and medical agencies. The center expects to receive 18,000 calls this year.

Calls range from homicides and barking dogs to heart attacks and fires.

“You never know what the calls are going to be,” Maritz said. “It can be a very stressful job.”

Mandi Kolb, a dispatcher for 10 years, has picked up overnight shifts to help with the staffing shortage. She also has added hours to her shifts. But she volunteers for the overtime.

“It’s nice because I have the whole day to be with my family,” she said of working overnight.

Kolb said her job can be stressful when she can’t see what’s happening on the other end of the call. One example she gave was when she heard gunshots and screams during a hostage situation.

The county has received 70 applications for its three open positions, Maritz said. A slow economy and good benefits have attracted the applicants.

Fifteen people who passed the written test and multitasking test have been interviewed. Three dispatchers will be hired in the fall and begin more than three months of training.

While the 911 center remains understaffed, Kilpin and Kolb will continue to have a good attitude about working overtime. The dispatchers are willing to help one another out and fill in when they’re needed.

“It’s an exciting job,” Kolb said. “You never know what’s going to be on the other end of the phone.”