HIGH POINT, N.C. — 10 people shot in less than two days, resulting in two deaths in High Point.
The numbers don't sit well, and neither does that fact that all this happened on the holidays: Christmas eve, and Christmas day.
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But it doesn't matter what day it is, 911 dispatchers go into each shift prepared to hear the worst day of somebody's life.
"A lot of the times people call us 'the calm voice in the darkness,' and that’s what we try to be to everybody that calls because on their worst day is a normal day to us," High Point 911 dispatcher Seth Caldwell said.
So even though it's a holiday week, and it may have been more hectic than usual, dispatchers say they have to find a way to manage because that's the job.
"Really one of the hardest things is not knowing how everything turns out," Caldwell explained. "Because we hear the worst of the worst on the phone and we have to picture what's happening in our minds without actually being able to see what's going on."
High Point 911 Supervisor David Wilson says it's of course heartbreaking for the families involved in shootings and emergencies, but it's also hard on the dispatchers.
Luckily they have resources like chaplains and peer counselors if they ever need them, but sometimes they do something as simple as talking it out with coworkers.
"Unfortunately we get these calls constantly and we have to deal with them as best we can," Wilson stated. "The telecommunicators, a lot of times we talk to each other in the room after the incident because we don't have time to think during the incident we just have to follow our training."
Wilson and Caldwell consider dispatchers the first, first responders.
"We’re the first ones you talk to when you call, and we’re the ones that stay with you on the phone until someone physically shows up," Caldwell said.
Dispatchers say the holiday season tends to be very busy for them.
"It’s heartbreaking for the families I’m sure that have to stop what they’re doing to deal with the tragedies of shots fired, people being injured, going to the hospital and dealing with this during the holiday season," Wilson said.
High Point Police say there have been 19 homicides so far this year in the city, and more than 550 cases of violent crime.