For years, Allegheny County’s 911 dispatchers have quietly grappled with a growing mental health crisis that has forced them to face, firsthand, the same tragedies they confront daily over the phone.

This story discusses suicide. If you or a loved one are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988, or use the online chat option at http://988lifeline.org/chat.

In August 2024, a dispatcher committed suicide at the county’s 911 call center in Moon Township.

In June, another operator attempted suicide in the same parking lot, just a few yards from where other dispatchers were working.

“Something needs to change,” said Michele Panella-Mildrich, business agent for the SEIU Local 668 union, which represents the dispatchers. “People need to realize that just because you don’t see the dispatchers, we exist, we’re out here, and we’re struggling.”

Panella-Mildrich worked as a county dispatcher for nearly two decades, beginning in 2005 when Pittsburgh 911 merged with the county’s operation, and said she believes several of her colleagues have died, in part, due to mental health struggles associated with the job.

“I can probably name five or six other coworkers of mine that have succumbed,” she said. “Some have taken their own lives, others had trauma and have had issues with drug addiction, so there were overdoses, but you don’t hear about them because it wasn’t public … We want to try to prevent another tragedy.”

Work to provide support for county dispatchers has been a yearslong effort. This spring, the union negotiated a new contract with the county that provides critical incident leave for members, providing mandated time off if they handle certain serious situations like mass casualties or the death of a child or police officer.

Union leadership said there is still more to be done to provide support for dispatchers — a pressing need that was made evident by the recent attempted suicide on call center property that occurred months after the contract was signed.

“We are at a very precarious time,”Panella-Mildrich said. “If we are not at a mental health crisis, we will be soon.”

In a statement, County Manager John Fournier said all incidents of workplace violence, including suicide attempts, trigger a county investigation and a review of safety protocols, while assistance is also available for any other employees involved.

“Generally speaking after an incident such as this, we will ensure all involved employees receive assistance through our [Employee Assistance] program, including grief counseling and other mental health resources, and we will grant appropriate leaves for qualifying employees,” Fournier said.

Hazards of the job

The county’s 911 center operators said the dangers associated with their careers are, in part, due to the unpredictable nature of the job during the course of shifts that can last 16 hours.

Allegheny County only has one call center, located on Hookstown Road in Coraopolis. Operators will either be assigned to handle 911 calls or dispatch police, fire or EMS to respond to incidents.

Calls can run the gamut, from vehicle accidents or traffic stops to hostage situations or police shootings.

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At times, 911 operators have helped women give birth over the phone and gotten help for people considering taking their own lives.

An operator could have a week, even two, of simple calls before being confronted with a life-or-death situation — which can have long term effects on the 911 operators at the center.

Each year, the county dispatch center handles about 1.3 million calls.

While operators never know what awaits on the other end the phone, one aspect remains constant: they cannot hang up or leave the call until the incident has completely concluded.

For some, that means staying on the line during the anguished, final moments of a person’s life.

In January 2023, Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire called a county 911 operator as he confronted a man who had fled a traffic stop the previous night.

While the operator was on the phone with the police chief, the man pulled a gun and fatally shot McIntire.

“She had to stay on because she started the call and she had to ride it out through the end,” said Steve Catanese, president of SEIU 668. “You’re talking to a person on the phone and they’re getting killed at gunpoint … For the person dealing with that call, how do you even unpack that?”

Incidents like that can haunt a dispatcher long after the call ends.

For Michael Steinmiller, a 15-year veteran of the job, the tragedy that unfolded on Oct. 27, 2018 remains fresh.

Steinmiller was working as a police dispatcher at the center that day when a gunman wielding an assault rifle attacked a synagogue in Squirrel Hill that was home to the Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light congregations, killing 11 people and wounding six in the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

“That was the worst day of my career,” he said.

As the police dispatcher, Steinmiller was tasked with compiling reports that 911 operators were receiving from callers at the scene and using them to dispatch the officers.

“Some people were getting information from callers that were hiding,” he said. “Some people in the room heard callers taking their last breaths.”

Even after calamities like the synagogue shooting come to an end, the phones continue ringing.

“After something of that magnitude, there were times that I felt slightly isolated and the expectation was to just put on your big boy pants and get back to work,” Steinmiller said.

Critical incident leave

Before the latest contract signed by the union took effect, that 911 operator would have been required to return immediately back to work after concluding that call. The latest agreement with the county requires dispatchers to spend at least an hour off the phones after handling a critical incident.

The contract also allows them to take the remainder of their shift off without a loss of pay, and they can request an additional leave of up to three days.

Catanese and Panella-Mildrich said they are unaware of similar policies existing in dispatch centers outside the county, although similar critical incident leave policies exist for police, firefighters, and other emergency responders.

“The County is proud to be one of the first jurisdictions to offer critical incident leave for 911 dispatchers,” Fournier said.

Catanese said the union is still working to develop the novel policy.

“We’re trying to establish our own best practices here because we are not aware of too many places where this exists,” Catanese said.

The county’s 911 center operators say the dangers associated with their careers are, in part, due to the unpredictable nature of the job during the course of shifts that can last 16 hours.( Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette)

Steinmiller said the new contract is a step in the right direction to improve conditions for operators at the dispatch center, but more work will need to be done to ensure the safety of the county’s 911 operators.

“Unfortunately, the incidents that have happened on property over the last two years have been eye-opening experiences that we’re not immune, that we’re human, too,” he said. “I think we’re on the right trajectory, but we still have a ways to go.”

Dispatchers said the trauma from the job can accumulate over time and can lead to burnout, compassion fatigue, anxiety, sleep disruption, even post-traumatic stress disorder.

Their private struggles suddenly became public last month when county Communications Director Abigail Gardner suggested a local radio host jump off a bridge in a social media post to her private account, which she recorded while wearing a county EMS shirt.

Gardner was suspended for two weeks for the comment, which she later apologized for, after receiving widespread backlash, including from county emergency workers.

“It hits a very serious conversation that is happening at their work and it's one of the worst things you could have said,” Catanese said.

Although both Catanese and Panella-Mildrich condemned Gardner’s comment, they said they hope it spurs a public conversation about the mental health issues that 911 dispatchers have long dealt with.

“If this debacle can shed light on what they go through every day and the phenomenal job they do, even though they sit there and probably suffer in silence, then let’s get them that support and put 911 in the spotlight,”Panella-Mildrich said.

About 60 people staff the 911 call center at any given time and work in three rotating eight-hour shifts, but overtime — which can be mandatory due to short staffing — can stretch shifts as long as 16 hours, according to Steinmiller.

He said the center received about 31,000 calls during the last week of July and the length, and nature, of those calls can vary widely.

“One call could be a parking complaint, the next could be somebody having to perform CPR on a child, because of an overdose or a drowning, then you hang up and the very next call could just be a fender bender,” he said. “You never know what’s on the other end of that line.”

‘Heard but never seen’

Aside from the long shifts and unpredictable nature of the job, the classification of 911 dispatchers by the state and federal government has made it more difficult for them to access support.

Unlike police, firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics, 911 operators are not considered first responders, although a bill introduced and passed by the state House last year would change that.

The legislation introduced by state Rep. Jessica Benham would recognize 911 telecommunicators as first responders, opening the door for them to receive additional support.

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The bill unanimously passed the Democrat-controlled House last year and now awaits a vote in the Senate, where Republicans have a majority.

“If it doesn’t happen this year, I think it would be a statement for how dysfunctional Harrisburg is,” Catanese said.

If the bill does pass, the contract between the dispatchers’ union and Allegheny County would require both sides to come together to renegotiate new conditions for dispatchers under the reclassification, including additional benefits.

“We won’t know the specific impact that a reclassification will have [until] a contract is negotiated,” Fournier said. “But generally speaking, the designation provides recognition for these employees and could qualify them for additional mental health related benefits that other first responders qualify for.”

Meanwhile, a similar legislation has been proposed on a federal level — the 911 Saves Act — which would classify 911 operators and dispatchers as a first responders across the country.

Steinmiller, who has gone to Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., to push legislation to reclassify emergency dispatchers as first responders, said it is about time 911 operators get recognized for the role they play in public safety.

“People see police cars, fire engines, and ambulances going down the road,” he said. “What do all those vehicles say: ‘Emergency dial 911.’ We’re the voices that are often heard but never seen. It’s kind of like we’re unintentionally an afterthought.”

Correction, posted Aug. 13, 2026: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Michele Panella-Mildrich, business agent for the SEIU Local 668 union.

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