Read Full Article | View Source
Dispatchers are trained to de-escalate crises using active listening techniques gathering critical information, and connecting Veterans to necessary resources. VAPD Dispatcher Lead Lesaie Brown has received specialized crisis intervention training that supports her and the rest of the dispatch team in these pivotal moments.
“You have to have patience, you have to be a listening ear, and you have to have a passion for this,” said Brown, who spent nearly 20 years as an alarm dispatcher before coming to VAPD. “I will go through whatever I can to save a Veteran.”
