E-911 Dispatcher Spotlight: Josh Hollingshead

A Wayne County native, Josh Hollingshead started his career in corrections. He worked for years in Greene County before moving to Meridian and working at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility.

After losing a job and needing to find work, he reached out to a friend about a potential spot in the E-911 office. Working in the corrections field gave him an idea of what the job would require and showed he can succeed in high stress environments.

“I knew that this was an available choice, and I knew I would be kind of good at it just from my previous background,” he said.

That was more than nine years ago, Hollingshead said, and he’s still going strong at Lauderdale County E-911.

One misconception about the job, he said, is the amount of information dispatchers get from calls. Movies and television paint a picture where dispatchers can instantly identify where someone is calling from and what response is needed, but that isn’t reality.

“People have this false sense of how 911 works from Hollywood, and it’s just not the case,” he said.

Callers get frustrated with dispatchers because they ask so many questions, but those questions are being asked for good reasons. Hollingshead said dispatchers need to understand the full situation to help first responders prepare and know the urgency needed in their actions.

All 911 calls are taken seriously, Hollingshead said, but there is a difference in responding to a minor shoplifting call as opposed to bank robbery, or firefighters heading to a call with visible flames instead of the smell of smoke.

Another common issue is the time it takes from the initial 911 call to get first responders to the scene. While law enforcement, fire ighters or emergency medical personnel are dispatched quickly, it will still take a few minutes for them to travel to the emergency.

“I think the big takeaway is you call 911, be patient and cooperate,” he said.

April 12-18 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, and Lauderdale County is using the observance to highlight the work of its E-911 dispatchers and the vital role they play in public safety. Anyone interested in learning more about being an E-911 dispatcher can call 601-482-7559.