SANTA FE, Texas – However small or large the emergency, police dispatchers are always on the front lines.
In Santa Fe, they were all but overwhelmed until backup arrived.
“It was pure chaos,” dispatcher Amanda Trevillion said. “We had 20 calls on hold at a time.”
The callers were mostly terrified parents looking for their children. Some were terrified students looking for the shooter.
“I think that was the hardest part, was telling them that we didn’t have any information for them,” Trevillion said.
Dispatchers took nonstop calls for hours, including two who drove from neighboring Dickenson and Hitchcock to help.
“We are one team in Galveston County,” Santa Fe Dispatch supervisor Michael Howell said. “When one hurts we all hurt.”
As a mother of three boys, Trevillion understood the fear in the voices of the parents on the other line.
“When they are in total panic we have to calm them down,” Trevillion said.
“I would just like to say to the Santa Fe community, we’re strong and we will get through this as a community,” Howell said. “Please pray for our community.”