911 dispatchers describe horror and trauma as calls came in from Highland Park parade shooting
GLENVIEW, Ill. (CBS) -- Every day, 911 dispatchers deal with trauma – and they are used to hearing about the emergencies that define the worst days of people's lives.
On July 4th – two weeks ago Monday – the 911 dispatchers answered the first calls – and were the ones to hear the tragedy, in real time, of what was happening on the parade route in Highland Park. They told CBS 2's Marissa Perlman it was much different, and more traumatizing, than what they're accustomed to dealing with by now.
Dispatchers from across the North Shore responded to those first calls on July 4th – from Highland Park to Glenview. The dispatchers told us there is no way to prepare mentally for those calls, and shared what they heard on the other end of the line.
From the dispatch office Highland Park, Tammy – who has almost 30 years as a 911 telecommunicator – got the first calls from the parade just after 10:14 a.m. on Monday, July 4.
"I don't want to live it again," she said.
Tammy described the first call she picked up.
"This guy called saying his girlfriend was shot," she said.
Her team of three 911 dispatchers, who all work in one room, immediately called in extra resources. Police officers and fire crews were dispatched to the scene, while the dispatchers themselves gave medical advice over the phone.
They told those at the parade to find a safe space to shelter in place.
"I took two deep breaths and just did what I had to do," Tammy said.
She said the next several hours were a blur. With a flood of calls coming in, the overflow calls went to the Village of Glenview GPSDC dispatch center, where telecommunicators work together as one unit.
It was there where Jack Stopka picked up the phone.
"It was probably one of the worst calls I've ever had to make," Stopka said. "Lots of screaming – telling me people were shot, possibly dead. It was a rough call."
Stopka quickly got a grasp on what was happening. The hardest moment, he said, was having to break the news to his team.
"I turned to them and I said, 'There's an active shooter at the Highland Park parade,'" Stopka said.
For the next 16 hours, Stopka said he was running on pure adrenaline. He didn't know exactly how many people had been hurt, but focused on supporting the responders – and handling each call with care.
"Sometimes you feel helpless – especially in these situations," he said. "But we had people on the way, and there was lots of people coming."
Both dispatchers said they tried to be a voice of calm on the line with neighbors during some of the worst moments of their lives. But they say nothing could have prepared them for this.
"I've been doing this quite a while, and I've never had an incident like this – hopefully never have to have one again," said Tammy.
"How do you recover from it?" added Stopka. "You really don't."
That day, dispatchers say they were thankful there were EMTs already on the scene – along with extra police resources – which got people help right away. Btu the dispatchers worry what would have happened if that extra presence had not been on scene.