Call 911! True Stories from My Life in Emergency Dispatch is a record of the nail-biting, true tales of one Michigan county’s emergency calls and a story of personal and professional growth of its author, Kelly Rasmussen, who rose from the position of telephone operator for the county sheriff to become director of her local 911 dispatch center and, eventually, a nationally sought-out speaker and trainer for public safety professionals. Through it all, you will learn the pressures and perks, the highs and lows, the gratifying successes and the heartbreaking failures the average emergency dispatch operator must face every day as a basic part of a very demanding job.

In Call 911! Rasmussen assembles a collection of events her long career in emergency dispatch. When woven together these outline the story of one remarkable woman’s personal journey on the road of leadership. On this journey she learns that leadership is more than just demand and direction; good, effective leadership also involves healthy doses of cooperation and compassion. As an integral part of the machinery that protects us all, she shares valuable lessons in communicating, listening, and understanding the “mechanics of people.”