Running at half of its recommended staff size for nearly three years, the Routt County Emergency Communications Center still beats the national average in 911 response time — a testament to the talent and efficiency of its dispatchers, said Communications Manager Jim Cullen.

According to Cullen, dispatch centers nationwide need to answer a 911 call within 10 seconds of the first ring. The nation’s average is about 15 seconds, but the Routt County dispatch center averaged 4.6 seconds last year.

Despite its employee shortage, Routt County Emergency Communications manages to provide high-quality service to both callers and the agencies it supports, such as the Steamboat Springs Police Department, Routt County Sheriff’s Office, Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue and others.

Cullen attributes this success to the center’s talented, hard-working and dedicated dispatchers.

“I love doing this,” said Matthew Ballinger, a dispatcher with the Routt County Emergency Communications Center. “I love being able to help people and being one of the first people that someone talks to when they need help.”

Ballinger has been a dispatcher in Routt County since 2014. With only one five-month break in his 11 years, his career has considerably exceeded the average dispatcher’s span of three to five years.

“I left and went to public health for about five months, and then came back,” said Ballinger. “I missed the job too much. It’s a high-stress job, but it’s also very rewarding.”

Routt County dispatchers work 12-hour shifts and rotate the day and night shifts every 12 weeks. Although the center should have three dispatchers working at all times, the employee shortage means only two dispatchers are on the clock at one time, according to Cullen.

Typically, dispatchers work about 15 days a month, but because of staffing issues, Routt County dispatchers sometimes have to work 10 shifts in a row, totaling 120 hours of work across 10 days.

“We don’t get to spend as much time with our friends and families because we’re short-staffed,” said Ballinger. “We are one of the few departments in the county where there needs to be somebody here 24/7. It’s not an option.”

According to Cullen, the understaffing is in part due to a lack of affordable housing in Steamboat Springs, forcing new hires to commute from surrounding areas.

According to Emergency Operations Director David DeMorat, Routt County offers a “competitive” compensation package for dispatchers, which previously allowed Routt County to hire four Craig-based Colorado State Patrol dispatchers.

Colorado State Patrol runs Moffat County’s emergency communications center, which responds to calls in under 10 seconds on average, according to Trooper Gabriel Moltrer.

Although the four Craig-based dispatchers followed better pay and benefits to Routt County, they could not find affordable housing for themselves and their families, forcing them to commute to Steamboat Springs from Craig each day.

The commute took a toll on the dispatchers, adding an hour-long drive after a 12-hour shift.

Now, only one of the four Craig-based dispatchers still works at the Routt County Emergency Communications Center.

Cullen added that the Craig-based dispatchers hired in Routt County eventually went back to their previous jobs, despite the considerable pay cut.

However, according to Moltrer, the Moffat County dispatch center is also short-staffed, with 10 positions currently available.

Regardless of the commute, dispatchers can be hard to keep around because of the intensity of the job.

“Just like any first responder, it’s a stressful job,” said DeMorat. “But there’s an additional layer of stress because (dispatchers) don’t get any kind of closure.”

Cullen stated that some dispatchers develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD because of the job and noted that dispatchers typically don’t know what happens to a person after the call is disconnected.

“That’s part of the job. You have to compartmentalize and put it off to the side until you have a chance to explore it,” said Ballinger. “You never know when the next emergency is going to happen.”

When facing mental health struggles, dispatchers are encouraged to seek support from the Routt County Peer Support Team, a volunteer-based program under Routt County Crisis Support dedicated to helping first responders and law enforcement deal with stress.

“We have each other’s backs,” said Ballinger. “Having a good support network and hobbies is so important.”

However, the communication center is still finding new ways to improve emergency response as well as working conditions for its dispatchers.

According to DeMorat, Routt County Emergency Communications is working on setting up another dispatch center in Hayden to cut down on the commute for dispatchers who can’t afford to live in Steamboat.

Routt County Emergency Communications is also implementing new technology that will allow callers to stream video footage to the dispatch center, helping dispatchers to better understand the situation and more effectively respond.

DeMorat emphasized that calling 911 isn’t the only way to get help — texting 911 works too. 

When someone is in an area of the county with bad cell phone reception, DeMorat stated that texting often works better than calling to ensure that people get the help they need.

Above all, DeMorat noted that Routt County Emergency Communications wants to increase staffing, and the department hopes anyone interested in being a first responder will consider training to become a dispatcher.

“Being able to help calm people down and give them a glimmer of hope is a very rewarding process for me,” said Ballinger. “People are calling us on their worst day.”

“I’m so proud of what (the dispatchers) do out there,” Cullen said. “The fact that we’re so shorthanded and they work those many hours and we still operate above national standards, it’s unbelievable. Even with the struggles we have with staffing, there’s not even the slightest hiccup with the service we provide.”