Relegated to my office, I was advised there was an individual who had just jumped off the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge.
If you live or travel through Bangor or Brewer, Maine, you know the bridge is high, the Penobscot River is tidal, cold, and is currently sporting ice chunks the size of small boats.
The response of our police officers, firefighters, and paramedics is easily seen from my seat, but it can also be heard both from the sirens heading down Main Street and the radio traffic from the portable Motorola on my window sill.
Multiple vehicles and much radio chatter. It could be unnerving to someone that is not accustomed to it.
No one expects a good outcome when a person makes the decision to jump off a bridge in March. Even in warmer weather the chances of surviving such a jump are not very promising.
Kabryn Sturdee, just taking a 911 call. No bigs!
While all the responding units did great work, you might not realize that what you see at an incident is impressive, but what you are not hearing from competent emergency dispatchers is breathtaking.
Upwards of 40 individuals rushing to a scene, most with their own portable radio. Multiple channels and vehicles. Yet, you would never know it when you hear the calming voices on the other end.
The calming voices are also taking multiple phone calls, signing off units and trying to determine if the individual in the water is still clinging to the concrete pillar. Many, many people trying to interrupt and they just keep on keeping on.
Katie “Annie” Oakley and Kabryn “be strong and” Sturdee were in the communications center yesterday. Orchestrating a very dangerous rescue and doing it like they were taking your order at the drive thru window beside Bob’s Cheeseburger Emporium and Shake Shack on Old Route #1.
During the point when Bangor Firefighters were motoring down the river in a Zodiac, I heard one exchange that was completely garbled due to the wind noise on the rescuer’s radio microphone. I did not understand even one word. Oakley just said 10-4 as if the information had been passed to her on a piece of heavy stock white paper and written in block letters with a fat, black Sharpie. You know what I am saying, the black marker you use to make a “For Sale” sign on a piece of cardboard from a Kenmore fridge box to make sure people see the old woodstove that you placed beside the road.
Katie Oakley. Working, like she usually is.
Yes, she understood.
When I went downstairs today to take their photos for this posting, Katie was explaining to a woman how to deliver medical care for another individual and Kabryn was taking a 911 call. I just snapped the photos and left. I did not want to ruin the heavy duty “Chi” in the room.
The person that jumped was rescued and taken to a local hospital to be treated, the police and firefighters went back to their respective locations and duties, and Katie and Kabryn are still taking calls, some boring, some terrifying.
We just want to tell them how much we appreciate them.
You do great work and we notice you.
Keep your hands to yourself, leave other people’s things alone, and be kind to one another.
We will be here.
TC
This post was originally published on March 23, 2017 on Bangor Maine Police Department Facebook page.
