VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County emergency dispatchers are going through innovative emergency mental health training to help them better deal with both suicidal callers and their own mental health.
More than 130 county dispatchers are learning in the program led by Jim Marshall, the founder of The 911 Institute. This spring, they will sharpen their skills since the results of mental health and suicide calls often rely on what they say. “In our profession, there’s always a fear because there isn’t much training in this as we would like that we may say the wrong thing,” Emergency Communications Director James Soukup said.