The Calm Voice in the Dark: Raymore Emergency Dispatch

A dark room filled with screens, a steady voice in your ear and a dozen decisions unfolding at once—that’s the world Courtney Harrison steps into every shift. We sit down with Raymore’s Dispatch Communications Supervisor to explore how 911 call-takers turn frantic moments into clear action, why location is the first question for a reason and what the calm in the chaos really looks like when seconds decide outcomes.

Courtney pulls back the curtain on the Raymore Emergency Communications Center, where two dispatchers staff each of four rotating teams around the clock, supporting Raymore Police, South Metro and West Peculiar Fire Protection Districts, Peculiar Police and Raymore Animal Control. She shares how dispatchers multitask under pressure—typing, listening, triaging resources and issuing emergency medical dispatch (EMD) instructions—all while keeping callers grounded and responders informed. We tackle myths about precise phone pings and TV drama and lay out practical tips: give your location first, answer the callback after an accidental dial and trust the follow-up questions designed to get help moving fast.

We also talk about the mental side of the work. Audio trauma lands in the brain like visual trauma, so team support and structured debriefs matter. Courtney explains the training pipeline—EMD, MULES, FEMA, CPR, crisis intervention and continuing education through APCO and Virtual Academy—that equips dispatchers for mass incidents, medical protocols and high-stress calls. And yes, there are rare, remarkable moments: a teammate who has helped deliver three babies over the phone and a chance neighborhood encounter that brought one story full circle.

Whether you’re curious about how 911 really operates or you’re considering a career behind the console, this conversation offers a clear, human view of the first first responders—the people who answer, guide and stay steady when everything else is not. If this resonated, follow the show, share with a friend, and leave a quick review so others can find it too.

Learn more about the City of Raymore's Communications Department at www.raymore.com/communications

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Transcript

Meet Courtney And Her Path To Dispatch

Melissa Harmer 0:11

Welcome to Say More and Raymore, the City of Raymore's official podcast. I'm your host, Melissa Harbour, Communications Director for the City. Today we're with Dispatch Communications Supervisor Courtney Harrison. Hi, Courtney. Hi. Tell us a little bit about you.

Courtney Harrison 0:26

I was born in Missouri. I moved to Rhode Island when I was about two or three years old, before moving back around the age of twelve. I'm actually kind of a nerd. I love to read, play video games, watch movies, hang out with my family. I love sports and getting to be involved as my son tries out for every sport he can imagine. He likes to navigate his passions and abilities and getting to see that and be with him through that is is really cool. I would say that uh traveling is probably my most favorite hobby.

Melissa Harmer 0:57

Nice. And do you get a chance to do that every once in a while?

Courtney Harrison 0:59

Every once in a while. Sometimes once or twice a year, we try to go on at least one or two big trips a year and travel to new places, usually on a cruise or different countries.

Melissa Harmer 1:09

Nice. Do you ever go back to Rhode Island?

Courtney Harrison 1:12

Yes, I also try to do that once a year. Sometimes it's once every two years, uh, just to see that side of the family and and see my niece and nephew growing up.

Melissa Harmer 1:20

Great. Where's your favorite place you've traveled to? If you could narrow it down.

Courtney Harrison 1:23

That's a hard one. I went on a cruise where we went to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. That was really cool and getting to experience that culture. But really, just every place I go to, it's always something different, seeing the food, seeing the people. So I don't know, I don't think I could narrow it down.

Melissa Harmer 1:39

Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Alright, so tell me how you got started in this field.

Courtney Harrison 1:45

I actually started at Belton PD in 2019. I was fully committed to the idea of becoming a police officer. Uh, then I decided to marry one. So I not only fell in love with him, but I fell in love with the job. Being able to be on the other side and being the calm voice in the dark for our responders as well as our citizens was very fulfilling to me. I knew that I wanted to gain experience and be a leader eventually, so when the position opened up in Raymore, I carefully considered it and here I am today. Uh positive for me in this position is getting to serve the community that I also live in.

Melissa Harmer 2:20

Nice. And tell me again, when did you start in Raymore? How long have you been here?

Courtney Harrison 2:23

I've been here since October of 25, so just a few months.

Melissa Harmer 2:27

Okay. Wow, it seems like a lot longer, but time flies, I guess. Okay.

Courtney Harrison 2:31

Okay.

Inside Raymore Communications Staffing And Shifts

Melissa Harmer 2:32

Uh you mentioned already a little bit 911 dispatchers and communications officers are like the first first responders. You're a lot of times the unseen first responders. So tell me about our Raymore communications officers. How many do we have? What are the shifts? Explain a little bit about that.

Courtney Harrison 2:48

So we have eight full-time dispatchers. I would make the ninth position. We're actually about to start training our newest recruit in the beginning of March, which is very exciting. And we have four shifts total each, staffed with two dispatchers. As the population continues to grow rapidly, our hope is to be able to staff three dispatchers per shift and really optimize the space that we have to accommodate the needs of the community. Uh our shifts are 24-7-365. I always try to edit it to add the 365, because we're always here. There's never a time that you can't reach us.

Melissa Harmer 3:19

Right. Are those 12-hour shifts that each person?

Courtney Harrison 3:23

12-hour shifts, one day, one night, and the four shifts total, so two dispatchers per shift.

Melissa Harmer 3:28

Okay, gotcha. Can you describe a day or a night or what are some of the things that happen during a shift?

Courtney Harrison 3:37

Some of the things are similar. It depends on the call volume and the needs of the community. I would say that night shift tends to be a little slower, but a lot more chaotic things happen during the daytime. It's a lot of administrative things, I guess you could say.

Melissa Harmer 3:52

And you're talking about call volume, but overall, I think it's somewhere around 10,000 911 calls a year that you all take. And tell me who all you dispatch for dis besides just Raymore PD.

Courtney Harrison 4:07

So it's Raymore, PD, South Metro, Fire Protection District, West Peculiar Protection District, Peculiar Police Department. Animal Control.

Melissa Harmer 4:15

Animal control. I went on a ride along. It was a little bit uneventful until about 2 p.m. Is that a true statement? Like 2 p.m. is when things start happening.

Courtney Harrison 4:25

So we're very superstitious in here.

Melissa Harmer 4:27

Oh no. Sorry in advance if I jinxed anything.

Courtney Harrison 4:31

We don't say certain words. The full moon is a very real thing. Um I honestly it's it's a it's a solid mixture. Sometimes we'll have two major calls that happen before 8 a.m. It just depends on the day, uh, sometimes the season, sometimes when it gets warmer out. It just depends.

What A Shift Looks Like And Call Volume

Melissa Harmer 4:49

Just depends. Just depends. All right. Multitasking is a must. So you have to listen, you have to type, you have to be calm, you have to give medical instructions sometimes, and you have to figure out which first responders need to be dispatched to a call. So tell me a little about bit about that and what skills are required for all of our dispatch communications officers.

Courtney Harrison 5:12

So multitasking is definitely a must. There's several things that we have to do at the same time. It's typing, it's listening, it's trying to gather the correct amount of resources and setting them at the same time all behind the scenes without skipping a beat or letting you know that that's what's happening. A common phrase that we like to use in the dispatching community is remaining calm in the chaos. We are the calm voice in the dark. And that means being solution focused, not emotional. And I don't mean not showing emotion. I just mean that people call us for help during some of the worst days of their lives. They're scared, confused, looking for answers. They're not worried about cursing or if they sound professional. That's our job. To remain professional and not let our own personal emotions cloud the situation or our judgment. It's not about us, it's about them and being what they need.

Melissa Harmer 5:59

Right, right. A very serious I mean, that's a lot of weight. Tell me how you deal with the emotional weight of the work when you're listening to all this trauma over the phone.

Multitasking And Staying Calm Under Pressure

Courtney Harrison 6:10

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. Sometimes it does get heavy. Uh what's interesting about trauma is that your brain doesn't differentiate between audio or visual traumas. Both types of stimuli are converted into electrical signals. It triggers the amygdala before being sent to the hypothalamus, and that's the thing that controls the fight, flight, or freeze, right? If I were to describe a scene to you right now, it's warm, sunny, 75 degrees, you're laying on a beach on a blanket in the sand with a good book, waves are crashing in the background, children are splashing in the ocean, laughing, you get a very distinct visual in your head. Now it may not be the same exact scene I'm picturing in my head, but it's similar. Your brain tries to create an image in your mind. The same thing happens when we're on the phone, trying to decipher the noises in the background, the scene the callers are describing, all while sending responders in the background. Sometimes it seems like our questions may be random or frustrating at the time, but they serve a purpose, and our interrogation leads us to the path that we need to take in order to get the best possible outcome for you and for everyone involved. That being said, this is a very good and close-knit team that we have here. I'm very lucky to be able to join a team that is already close-knit and works very well together. As far as how we handle things, we move on. The next call is going to come. I don't mean that to sound harsh, but it's reality. One call could be us giving CPR over the phone, the next could be a child that goes missing, or pulling up maps and resources and sending all the people, and then the next call could be someone asking what time the post office closes. It's it's such a mixture that we have to be ready for anything. Being able to talk about those things between ourselves, it's it's basically like a little free session of therapy for us. We all understand what each other goes through, even if we're not there for the event, because similar events happen throughout all the shifts. So I know that they lean on each other. Like I said, they're very close here.

Melissa Harmer 8:00

Are there any common misconceptions about the work that you do?

Courtney Harrison 8:04

We can't actually use satellites to perfectly ping your location each time you call. That would be wonderful.

Melissa Harmer 8:10

I thought that 's how it works on TV. Come on.

Courtney Harrison 8:13

Exactly. Technology is good, but it's not perfect. A lot of TV shows glorify our work, and it is very rewarding. It's also very limiting for us as dispatchers. We can't physically respond to scenes to help our officers or help our medics. We can't physically give you CPR, so everything that we can do is limited to our monitors and keyboard and our voices. We have to rely heavily on those skills that we've established during the job to do our part in the entire cycle.

Melissa Harmer 8:40

What are some important things for callers to remember to do if they have to call 911? Which I mean you're in a obviously a scary situation, but is there something that you could share that would help?

Courtney Harrison 8:51

Location is a must. Number one thing that we want to get from you is a location, whether it's a very traumatic situation, whether it's just a very normal day-to-day situation, if you're calling, we need to know location. We need to know how to help you, where to help you, who we can send. And again, going back to what I said about our questions seeing seeming random or frustrating, they do serve a purpose. If we don't have our interrogation, we can't even decide what path we're going down to try to get to the best possible outcome. Most of the time, officers or fire personnel are sent within the first 120 seconds of the call. We're doing that behind the scenes while we simultaneously gather crucial information from you. A lot of times people will say, I don't want to answer your questions, can I just send them? And I totally get that. It's frustrating. It's sometimes frustrating for me. But remembering that we're all on the same team, we're here for a common purpose and we're here to accomplish a goal. We have to be able to do our job in order to get you the help that you're needing.

Melissa Harmer 9:47

Right. Great. And can you tell me about some of the certifications that our dispatchers have?

Trauma, Mental Load and Team Support

Courtney Harrison 9:52

So as a dispatcher, our certifications require us to go through an EMD training for all the emergency medical calls. We have to be mules certified, which is the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement Systems. And EMD is emergency medical discipline dispatch. Dispatch. Yes. And so the Mules system is more law enforcement. That's how we get records. That's how we find information about people. EMD is more focused on life-saving measures and different protocols that we can do depending on the type of medical call. In addition to all of that, our all of our dispatchers within the last year have now recently become CIT certified, which is the crisis intervention techniques. That helps us really on the phone try to de-escalate situations and remain problem solving focused versus getting emotionally charged whenever someone calls. That's been a very useful tool that law enforcement across the board has really focused on, embraced. Our training also consists of 18 weeks in-house training. It varies between 16 to 18 weeks. That's very much on-the-job training. We go through each section, four to five phases, depending on what each training needs. That's all hands-on. Additionally to that, the three weeks of outside training is where you get your EMD certifications, your mule certifications. We go to active shooter trainings put on by other local municipalities. Our FEMA training is also done at the very beginning of our training stages during our orientation period. That's the Federal Emergency Management Association training helping us deal with mass incidents that may involve multiple agencies at the same time. We also go through CPR training that's usually put on by our local fire department. Usually South Metro Fire Department will put on a class, and we touch on that every one to two years, make sure that we're up to date on the current CPR expectations and so lots of training goes into it, even ongoing after you're hired. Yeah, we have a lot of continuing education that we do as well, and that's various websites that we can use internally, whether it's APCO or Virtual Academy. They have a lot of telecommunicator focused classes. We have to do about 12 every year. So we're constantly doing our continuing education, making sure we're up to date on the most recent information.

Melissa Harmer 12:11

In the middle of also answering calls. Yes. That's a lot. That's a lot. Yes. Let's uh move on to just a few quick questions. Okay. Okay. So what did you want to be as a child?

Courtney Harrison 12:22

Actually, as a child, I wanted to be a meteorologist and chase tornadoes.

Melissa Harmer 12:26

Is this the Twister era? Was it Twister that did it for you?

Courtney Harrison 12:29

Uh yeah, I think so. Actually, it was.

Melissa Harmer 12:30

Same for me for a little while. Yeah.

Courtney Harrison 12:33

I can't say that as an adult, I'm not still looking for some of that excitement. I'd like to say that I go to the basement like I'm supposed to. Sometimes I take a little peek at the clouds.

Melissa Harmer 12:44

Well, severe weather and uh preparedness week is coming up here in the Missouri. So we will be doing our tornado drills and you guys are kind of already in the basement.

Courtney Harrison 12:52

Yeah.

Myths Vs Reality Of 911 Technology

Melissa Harmer 12:52

So you're in a protected area of City Hall, so you don't move. No. We we just stay there and Yeah. Well that's good. That's helpful. Yeah. That's helpful. Um, because likely you'd be taking some calls in the aftermath, I suppose, of a natural disaster such as a tornado. All right. Do you drink coffee all shift? Like how do you I so if anyone has ever sat in and observed in um our what emergency communications center, is that what it's is that what it's called? Yes. Um it's dark in there. There are tons of TV screens, computer screens. How do you make it through a 12-hour shift kind of at your computer or at your computers, computer displays? Um, do you drink coffee all shift? What do you do?

Courtney Harrison 13:33

I'm actually not a coffee person, I'm a tea drinker, but caffeine is a must. Yeah. Uh snacks, we try to, you know, do healthier snacks, some vegetables, some fruit throughout the day, just kind of munching as we go. We are we we love our snacks. You don't really leave during a lunch break. No. Our lunch break is taken there at the console, and it is very dark in there, but a lot of us actually prefer it. A lot of us don't prefer the sunlight. We we joke that we're kind of vampires in that way.

Melissa Harmer 14:00

I think next group Halloween costume idea is. Exactly. Okay, one thing you wish every caller knew, you kind of already talked about that, was make sure that you just can share your location as closely as possible. Is there anything else on that?

Courtney Harrison 14:15

Besides the location and besides remembering that we have very specific questions in order to get you the best out possible, I would say that 911 hangups are something that we deal with every single day. And a lot of them are by mistake, and that's okay. We don't mind. We're not mad that a 911 call comes in and is hung up. Just remember that your phone actually connects a lot faster than you think it does. So when you go to stop it, we've already received the call, a very generic location sometimes, and the phone number. So we're always gonna call back just to make sure you're okay. Just try to answer for us. Give us your name, let us know you're okay. That's all we're wanting to hear.

Melissa Harmer 14:48

Yes, I accidentally did that for my office phone a few years ago. Thought I hung up fast enough, I didn't, and I got this call of Melissa. Did you call 911? Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. They're like, no big deal. So really it's if you accidentally do it, just stay on the line and be like, sorry.

What Callers Should Do And Why Questions Matter

Courtney Harrison 15:02

Yeah, just the best thing to do. Yeah, because it it it definitely happens a lot faster. The connection happens a lot faster than you think. It's and so staying on the line just kind of expedites that process. Hey, sorry, mistake. Didn't mean to call 911, I'm okay. Perfect, great, have a great day. That's all we need.

Melissa Harmer 15:18

Great. Um, and then as you mentioned before, the full moon really does make a difference.

Courtney Harrison 15:23

I like to think so. And I would say a lot of my peers also think so. I know that's just not within my agency, that's all across the board. That's patrol, that's fire, that's dispatch. Everyone thinks that the full moon or really has seen that the full moon does have some sort of effect. Is there anything else like weird that has an impact? We don't use certain words. Okay. So we call it the Q-word. Whenever you walk into dispatch, we do not say the word quiet. I am not currently in dispatch, so I can say that word. That's the one.

Melissa Harmer 15:54

Oh, like you wouldn't say, sorry, can I say it because we're not in there? Like you wouldn't be like, ooh, it's quiet today.

Courtney Harrison 15:58

Oh yeah, absolutely not. That would just be quiet, slow, absolute jinx. All of a sudden things start catching on fire, grass fires happen on the highway.

Melissa Harmer 16:05

That's okay, okay, got it. So if I ever visit you down there, I will not I will not mention anything about the surroundings or what I think is happening or nothing. Okay, good to know, good to know. I was recently informed that even though on TV dispatchers help deliver babies all the time via 911 calls, that actually doesn't happen that often. So we have a dispatcher who has delivered not one but two babies over the phone. Oh my gosh, three?

Courtney Harrison 16:34

Three.

Melissa Harmer 16:34

Was there a recent one?

Courtney Harrison 16:36

There was, I I don't know. I I have to say that this all actually happened before my time. Okay. So I hope I can do this story justice. It really doesn't happen often. Um, everyone wants to say, you know, I got to help deliver a baby. That's a really cool thing, bringing a life into the world and being a part of that cycle, making sure that we're doing it safely. Uh, she's had the opportunity to do three. That's Brianna, and she's she's amazing. And those call recordings. I know that the families were very thankful and very happy with Brianna's ability to help them walk through those steps because that's a that could be a scary time. Right. And to do that safely, all three babies, by the way, were birthed before medic personnel arrived on scene.

Melissa Harmer 17:16

Wow.

Certifications, Training and Continuing Education

Courtney Harrison 17:16

So those were full, full moments that she's gotten in just under four years of service. Myself, I have eight years under my belt, and I can't even say that I even came close. There was maybe one or two times, but no, she's had full, three full events successfully. That's really cool. What's really interesting is that one of those three babies that she delivered, she and her fiance just bought a house last year, and one of the couples that lived next door to her when they were meeting their neighbors actually ended up being the grandparents of one of the babies that she delivered. So it's not very often that we get those full circle moments or we necessarily get any closure from the calls. Typically, it's just we hang up the phone. Sometimes we hear about like a patient status or about how things happened after the fact, but I know that this was a really fulfilling full circle moment for them.

Melissa Harmer 18:06

That is super cool, and also you really that's right, you don't meet a lot of the people you save talk to. That's that's interesting.

Courtney Harrison 18:15

Yeah, and that's why, you know, as much as it sounds harsh and it's unfortunately just the reality, the the answer to how we deal with it is we we just move on. We just move on, the next call's coming. There's always gonna be someone else to help and start.

Melissa Harmer 18:28

We've got that work to do, keep doing it.

Courtney Harrison 18:30

That's it.

Melissa Harmer 18:30

Yeah. Coming up in April, a little over a month away now, we have National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. So if anyone wants to check out our Raymore Police social media during that week, we'll share a little bit of information about all of you in your division of the police department. And I would just like to say thanks for everything that you do because it's it's a lot, and it's uh I know it can be tough emotionally and mentally, but you're doing such an important job, and um, I know a lot of lives have been saved because of what you do, and so what you do makes a difference every day. So thank you so much.

Courtney Harrison 19:11

Well, I I appreciate that, and I yes, I dispatch, and yes, I'm working the console. I really would just like to give a shout out to my team. They're the ones that really do do it, 247-365. It is a mentally draining job. I know that there's especially when there's a lot of overtime or it's on the long weeks, while it's on the long weeks, it gets very tough sometimes, and you have to be conscious of your mental health. But it is also very rewarding. Getting to help our community and hearing those success stories about like those births, or there was a story about how we sent fire personnel out on the lake to save a little family of deer. That was very cool. Getting to hear what they're doing and that those success stories are coming out makes me very proud to have stepped into this role and be able to work with such an establish and amazing team.

Melissa Harmer 20:01

Awesome. What advice do you have for somebody thinking about entering your field?

Courtney Harrison 20:04

Come in and observe us, come in and sit with us, talk to us, ask questions, make sure that it's something that you really want to do.

Melissa Harmer 20:10

Perfect. Thank you again for being here, Courtney. And if anyone wants any information, check out our website, raymore.com slash police, and they can get in touch with you through the police department.

Courtney Harrison 20:23

So thank you so much. Yeah, absolutely. It was super fun to be here, and I'll be happy to answer any more questions that the community has. I'm I'm here. You know how to get a hold of me. Great. Thank you again. Thanks.