Several Dispatchers Shocked When Lightning Strike Hits 911 Center In Salem County
By Diana Rocco
WODDSTOWN, NJ (CBS) -- The rain and winds were bearing down over Woodstown, Salem County Tuesday evening.
"The storm was close to ending and a multitude of lightning was happening. You could hear it loud like 'kaboom!'"
Calls were streaming into the Salem County 911 center when dispatcher Doug Hogate Jr. felt a jolt.
"I felt it through my body, through my arm a quick shock. It went up my arm and I felt it go through my neck."
He adds, "I dropped the phone as soon as it happened. It was really quick."
Running on adrenaline, he picked the phone up and continued answering calls along with the other dispatchers.
Ryan Segrest, a paramedic says, "He had head and neck pain. He said he felt like an ax was hitting him in the head."
Another paramedic, Kathleen McCarthy says, "They all had same feelings, tingling fingers, sensation in their arms."
The building may have taken several lightning strikes, surging through the phone lines and shocking all five dispatchers.
When the call center was answering its highest volume of calls, one dispatcher called over to the ambulance company they dispatch to check their vitals.
"It was chaos and when you have stethoscope in your ears, it's hard to get a good blood pressure."
"My heart rate was a steady 140."
And his blood pressure was 200 over 130. That's when EMT Ryan Segrest convinced Doug it was time to go to the emergency room, while Kat McCarthy tended to the others.
Kat says, "A couple of the people I know well enough to be family."
Kat and Ryan know the voices that dispatch them, but never thought they'd be the ones needing the call.
Ryan says, "They went on like it never happened. It was pretty amazing."
He adds, "We can be patients, too. Sometimes we need help. It's just something you're not used to. You're used to helping everyone else."
While other communities in East Greenwich Township are still dealing with massive cleanup, three of the five Salem county dispatchers have returned to work. The lightning strike is still under investigation.