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There was a time Birmingham dispatcher Terez Willis concluded her most wretched shifts with a highway finale.
She worked afternoon shifts then, talking to emotional 911 callers and trying to gather details for fellow first responders until the clock struck midnight.
With her first responder mind easing from the tenaciousness that goes into a shift, she would drive the Lodge Freeway – sunroof open, windows down and music playing – until she was at downtown Detroit’s Jefferson Avenue.
“To just exhale,” she confessed. “I didn’t do that very often. But I did. Then I would go home.”
Willis remains devoted to an industry known for its turnover rate and burnout challenges, which are compounded by weekend and holiday shifts since the dispatch center has to pick up the phone every second of every day…
