Dispatcher is one in a million
Wanda English Burnett - Editor

The day that began as any other, would turn out to be anything but ordinary for a dispatcher at the Ripley County Communications Center recently.

Donna Million has been doing her job for a year and a half as a dispatcher and finds each day a challenge. However, none have been quite as challenging as May 14, when she answered the phone to find someone on the other end telling her someone else's life was being threatened - in Chicago.

Chicago? She was hearing correctly. Gene Taylor, who is employed with Defender Security at Sunman, was on the phone with a client in Chicago, when that person told him his life was being threatened. "He said someone was trying to kill him," noted Million.

Taylor in turn called 911 and told Million the story. Million knew what she did next could be the difference of life or death for a man she had never met in another state.

"I needed to talk to a human being," she noted in an interview with the Osgood Journal. "I knew I couldn't get an answering service, I needed to talk to a person and right away."

She began the process and finally was connected with central dispatch and then through to Chicago 911. Officers were dispatched immediately to the scene, due to the fact Million had the man's name, address and telephone number.

After she knew help was on the way, she called the number Taylor had given her and after the second call, finally got through to Michael Wiest, the person who was in danger.

Sure enough, Michael Wiest's life had been in danger. He had been thrown down the stairs and beaten up and needed medical attention.

Million described the 911 phone conversation as the "most harrowing
case" she has handled, although she has talked a couple through the delivery of their baby and taken a 911 call from a bank robbery in progress.

"It was scary for a while. Sometimes you get a feeling it's really bad and it is," she noted. She said we are "so lucky to have the technology we have in place today with Enhanced 911 and the new mapping system to
track cell phone users when they call."

Wiest made a phone call to Judy Schebler, 911 Director on Monday morning telling her how thankful he was for the help he received over the weekend.

He noted that Million was an "incredible person". "I just called to say how wonderful she was when my life was threatened," he said in a phone call. He further noted that he would be sending a follow-up letter to again thank Million and the great job she had done. "God bless you all for all that you do," Wiest concluded.

Describing Million as "an angel sent from God" he left a message of praise and thanks for her actions. Judy Schebler, 911 Director for Ripley County noted that the actions of Million does not surprise her in the least. "She goes beyond the duties of her job to help others," she noted. "She is a conscientious person who cares about people," Schebler concluded.

WANDA ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTO

Donna Million, dispatcher for Ripley County Communications E911 Center, takes her job seriously. She recently proved she's willing to go the extra mile - or miles - and helped a man in Chicago when his life was threatened.