National First Responders Day, designated by the U.S. Congress in 2017, recognizes and appreciates the services of paramedics, firefighters, emergency technicians and others in the service field on October 28. The day honors the many individuals who work day in and day out to keep their communities safe.

Nearing 12 years of service in January, Valerie Starace has worked for Orange County 911 as a Senior Public Safety Dispatcher as well as a certified training officer (CTO) for the past six to seven years. As a CTO, she trains new employees for the job, to provide reassurance to callers that come through the center.

Originally from the Town of Newburgh, Starace in her late teenage years worked as a volunteer EMT (emergency medical technician) with the Town of Newburgh Ambulance and also worked full-time for Mobile Life (now Empress EMS) before joining the county operations.

The dispatch center that Starace works in is part of the greater Orange County Emergency Services Center which is located in Goshen. During the day to day operations at the dispatch center, Starace and fellow dispatchers, like Amy Doty from the Town of Wallkill, are answering 911 calls and calls from police lines from areas that do not have a full-time police dispatcher. The dispatch floor itself is broken into three sections where dispatchers are trained to handle incoming calls for police, fire and emergency medical services and thus are able to dispatch the required service to the caller.

When taking a call, the dispatcher must be able to catch that person calling immediately, to have them listen so as to assess the situation and dispatch the appropriate services. “You never know what you’re gonna get on the other side of that line,” she said. “We could be sitting around doing absolutely nothing. And the next phone call, the whole world is collapsing around us.”

During Starace’s time as a dispatcher, she worked through the COVID pandemic, which was an unknown time for many. More recently, the center also took calls when the flash floods occurred in the Town of Highland Falls and the bus crash incident that took place on I-84.

For Starace, the work and job that she is in is very fulfilling and she loves being able to help people. However, for her, she admits that the job can be stressful and challenging at times. One misconception that Starace has noticed is that as a dispatcher, certain information and protocols are followed so as to get the proper help to the situation. Yet, though the questions and protocols are being asked and followed, people think that the dispatcher is delaying the help. “It is a very wrong misconception,” she said.

Questions that are asked when taking any call are what is the address of the emergency, what is the person’s name, the person is asked to verify the phone number they are calling from and the person is asked to explain what exactly happened.

“The number one thing we wish the public knew is that the minute you give us your address, we have help being sent. Once we get your address, we have the ability to start processing that call,” she said. “The address is the most important piece because we can’t send you help if we don’t know where you are.”

Even as a dispatcher, dispatchers are able to provide life-saving instructions. In any emergency situation, Starace’s best advice to the members of the greater public is that they remain calm and listen to the dispatcher so they can get the help they need.

As a dispatcher, Starace said that with the phone calls that come through the center each day, once the phone hangs up, the dispatcher does not typically know the result of the situation. However, there are times when dispatchers are able to hear back from or meet those they have helped or saved.

“The most recent call that I took, that actually just drew attention was I had a female call me and say that her husband just collapsed in the yard. I was able to talk her through CPR, and the guy survived,” she said. “I was able to get her to come down enough that she could hear me and she could follow all of my instructions until we could get help on scene.”

According to Starace, the gentleman had suffered cardiac arrest prior to the call. The gentleman was able to get to the hospital safely, and several weeks later, they were both able to meet each other.

Another call that stood out for her was when Starace was able to talk a woman through the delivery of her baby and was able to meet that baby later on. With 12 years of service on the horizon, Starace again feels happy in the position she is in and looks forward to continuing to serve her community.

“I genuinely love what I do,” she says. “I love who I work with.”