Henry County dispatcher named Telecommunicator of the Year

MT. PLEASANT — Henry County Dispatcher Laura Roen received recognition as 2023 Iowa Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Telecommunicator of the Year Award.

“She was recognized for that for several reasons,” Henry County Sherriff Rich McNamee said.

According to McNamee, couple of highlights of these reasons include two exceptionally difficult emergency calls.

“She covered a double fatality wreck over by New London,” he said. “Two weeks later, she covered a domestic call involving an officer involved shooting here in Mt. Pleasant.”

“Well, the call that came in on a 9-1-1, one was a domestic disturbance, and it was chaotic, to say the least,” Roen described. “I first had to figure out where it was, so thankfully that came up on our screen. … I got the officers there, deputies backed up. Basically, everybody that I had on duty was there. I had to call an ambulance to stand by for possible injuries.”

“That call that night was traumatic,” she said. “When I got off the phone, I cried and cried the rest of the night, basically the rest of my shift. So, every time the phone would ring, I just have to take a deep breath and handle it. It was rough. You just have to carry on.”

“Then a week later, she covered another fatality crash over by New London,” McNamee said.

“The next day I came in my regular shift, and before I even sat down and logged in, I got a fatality car crash, like right off the bat,” Roen said.

According to McNamee, all of those calls came in within a couple of week time period.

“She had a very stressful time, but she got through it well, and she did a really good job,” he said. “So, in the whole state of Iowa, she was recognized as Dispatcher of the Year. We’re pretty proud of that.”

Roen felt humbled as she received the honor.

Her supervisor Laura Ruby nominated Roen secretly.

“I didn't even know about it until we were up at the conference and we're sitting around the table and I saw my nomination,” Roen said. “Even then, I still didn’t know that I won.”

“Everybody around the table knew that I won, but I had no idea,” she shared.

With only one winner for the title, Roen didn’t expect she would receive the honor.

“They had four finalists,” she said.

As she sat in the conference, she began to realize what happened as every other finalist received recognition.

“They announced everybody, and the process of elimination was that I was the only one left,” Roen said. “So, that meant I was the winner!”

“So, I kind of freaked out a little bit,” she admitted. “Tears came to my eyes, and I had no idea.”

“Honestly, I feel like I just do my job,” she said. “I love my job. I absolutely love it. So, I feel like I'm doing my job, and I feel like the other dispatchers would do just the same as I did, but I just happened to be there when that call came in that got me the nomination.”

Roen received this honor after three years serving as a telecommunicator with Henry County, though, she did work for Lee County, Illinois in the same roll 20 years prior to this year.

“So, I knew that I loved it,” Roen said. “When I had the chance to do it again, I jumped right on it.”

According to Roen, a day in the life of an emergency services telecommunicator varies according to the calls that come in.

“Most of the time when we're fully staffed, like three days a week, we'll have two on if nobody takes vacations, but normally we have one [person],” she said.

“I'm doing everything,” Roen explained. “Fire, ambulance, law enforcement, everything.”

Roen fields calls pertaining to civil complaints, citizens seeking to reach the sheriff and jail, and even simple calls about nuisance dogs.

“So, yeah, there's a lot of calls that come in,” she said.

While other 9-1-1 calls will receive attention immediate through a rerouting system, Roen says oftentimes she has to juggle responding to multiple calls at once.

“So it can be hectic,” she said. “It can be very hectic.”

“Yeah, it does seem crazy, sometimes, but in busy moments, is where I thrive,” Roen said.

Despite the recognition, Roen is simply ready to continue doing the work she loves.

As she does her job, she asks that those calling try to remember that she is fielding calls for everything, and needs some important information first.

“Give me your location first,” she said. “The way I answer 911 is ‘Henry County 911, Where is your emergency?’ Not what, but where is your emergency?”

“I need to know where you are or I cannot help you,” Roen said. “So location is definitely the first thing, and then. Phone number just in case we get disconnected.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com