{"id":184555,"date":"2026-02-19T13:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/184555\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T13:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:06:11","slug":"a-look-inside-the-dispatch-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/184555\/","title":{"rendered":"a look inside the dispatch process"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 When someone dials 911, the first few seconds can determine whether law enforcement is dispatched or the call is routed to medical or fire crews.<\/p>\n

\"FILE:<\/p>\n

Kara Douglas, a public safety dispatcher for the California Highway Patrol, said 911 calls come into what she called PSAP, the Public Safety Answering Point, where dispatchers quickly decide how to classify the call.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a 9-1-1 call comes in, it comes in to what\u2019s called a PSAP. There\u2019s a level one and a level two. Level one, it\u2019s always law enforcement. So we determine if law enforcement needs to go to the call, if it\u2019s an immediate threat to life or anything criminal. If it\u2019s just strictly medical, fire anything like that, we will then transfer it over,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n

\"FILE:<\/p>\n

Douglas said her first question is always the caller\u2019s location, then she works to determine what kind of help is needed. She said dispatchers focus on whether there is an immediate danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always ask questions regarding life-threatening situations. So if there\u2019s any weapons, if there\u2019s any injuries,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n

Douglas said that when prioritizing calls, it is always life over property. Asked how she handles the stress of the job, she said she approaches it one call at a time and tries to relate to what callers are going through.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have to try to be a little sympathetic and put yourself in their shoes and how would you handle the situation if it were you or your family member,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n

\"FILE:<\/p>\n

The explanation comes as a viral TikTok has prompted some callers to share negative experiences with a 911 operator. <\/a>Reese Scott said she called 911 three times and described each interaction as unpleasant. She said she believes the same person answered each time because the same phrase was repeated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the tone of voice and also the phrase ‘ What would you like me to do?’ \u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n

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It remains unclear which agency the operator in the viral TikTok works for. Bakersfield police said the original TikTok video does not specifically mention their department and noted that multiple agencies operate dispatch centers locally. CHP Bakersfield said it is not investigating the incident involving its dispatchers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 When someone dials 911, the first few seconds can determine whether law enforcement is dispatched…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-184555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}