[July 26, 2011] Richmond emergency dispatcher retires after nearly 39 years Tweet Jun 30, 2011 (Richmond Times-Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- In nearly four decades as an emergency communications dispatcher in Richmond, Patrick Ware is hardly exaggerating when he says he has heard it all. He has answered tragic calls for homicides, fires and heart attacks. Once, a man called 911 and told Ware he wanted him to hear something. The caller then shot himself. And Ware has taken many a frivolous call -- reports of leaky faucets, cats in trees, and a woman who called to say her 4-year-old son had refused to go to preschool. Another woman called to report a disorderly bluebird outside her window. "Every day is a different day, and every phone call is not the same," said Ware, who retires today after nearly 39 years as a city dispatcher. "I've heard it all, and there's nothing I haven't heard." Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood and other colleagues congratulated Ware, 64, on his years of service Wednesday at a gathering at the city's emergency communications center in South Richmond. Ware, a Vietnam War veteran, actually has served the city for about 41 years, counting his short stints as a firefighter and a police officer. He decided to become a dispatcher because, back then, they made 15 percent more money than police officers. Ware, who lives in Amelia County with his wife, Bettie, and their poodle, Buttons, is from the old school of communications. When he started in 1972, the city had only two police radio channels, one for patrol and the other for detectives and traffic officers, plus one fire channel. Dispatchers would average about 200 or 300 calls for service in a 24-hour period. These days, there are five police channels, and the communications center received about 2,300 calls on Tuesday, with some calls coming during a heavy thunderstorm. One of Ware's most memorable calls came from a woman who called 911 and, when Ware answered the phone, told him, "Dad, I appreciate you calling." Ware quickly figured out that the woman was in danger and was pretending that her father had called her. He started asking her questions. Has someone broken into your house? She replied: "Yes, Dad." And he soon figured out that she had been sexually assaulted in her home and that the man was still there. "We got the units out there, and they captured him," Ware said. Asked how long ago that was, Ware replied, "Oh my gosh. Don't ask me any dates. That was a long time ago." Other callers just wanted to talk to somebody. There was a Vietnam veteran who used to call the nonemergency number to chat. He would joke around and start singing the "Marines' Hymn." Ware's fellow communications officers said they will miss him dearly. "He is kind of a big teddy bear to me," said Evelyn McGill, deputy director of emergency communications. Ware also noted how stressful the job can be. He once saw a colleague suffer a fatal heart attack while handling a call for a major fire. "In here, it can go from nothing to a disaster in about three-tenths of a second," Ware said. "Your heart rate goes up, and you've got to absorb it all, look at the big picture." Ware got emotional as he spoke to his coworkers at his send-off party. "This is my family, and it's just time to go," he said, choking up. "I enjoyed it. Time to move on." [email protected] (804) 649-6332 To see more of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesdispatch.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]