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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
This book has a lot of not-so-good reviews, and I have to say that I am surprised. This book is a lot of what I was expecting - a memoir with a little bit of 911 call center drama mixed in. While it did get repetitive at times, it was certainly interesting to see how one woman rose above her past and has kept at her pursuit of happiness - one of these pursuits being a job at a 911 call center. The calls she describes were interesting and I found the progression of her skin getting thicker very intriguing - as someone who works in a field where a think skin is necessary, I saw where she was coming from. It was an easy read, a bit confusing in a couple of places where I had to re-read to understand what person was talking to the other, but overall an enjoyable 2-day read. I would recommend.
An interesting behind-the-scenes look at the work of an unlikely emergency operator.
This is a fun read. Never forget 911 operators are indeed the first first responders in an emergency. They deserve a lot more. A lot more.
This was a really fast, mostly interesting read about a job that I've always been curious about the inner-workings of. I didn't really click with the author's writing voice but I loved the tenderness she wrote about her coworkers with. It's a good read if you're looking for information about what it's like to be a 911 dispatcher and not looking to read 200 pages of transcripts - like other books of its type.
I don't know what the experience of reading this book would be if you had never been a 911 operator, but as someone who has been, I kept thumping the book and saying out loud "Exactly! Exactly!" It kind of made my skin crawl, actually, it brought the experience back so vividly. So I can definitely say it's true to life, she didn't need to make anything up.
This is a memoir of a woman who is a 911 dispatcher. She talks about her life, her drug addiction, dropping out of school, and her search for a career or job that would work for her. She talks about the type of calls she handles as a dispatcher and the struggle she had in the beginning of her career in her confidence and not wondering what happened to the caller after the police arrived.
It is an interesting and quick read. It made me think about what a challenging position job this is to have, learning how to turn off your want to ask the why questions and just the facts as quickly as possible.
It is an interesting and quick read. It made me think about what a challenging position job this is to have, learning how to turn off your want to ask the why questions and just the facts as quickly as possible.
Quite representative of the work done by dispatchers everywhere. The whining, the bitching, the back-stabbing and the challenging job to be done in between, it's all in there. For better and for worse.
I went back and forth on this book while I was reading it - sometimes I found it really interesting, sometimes I found the author annoying, sometimes I didn't mind her - I was pretty much all over the place. I did learn some things from the book, and that is always a plus for me. I can't imagine doing this as a job and I'm very grateful for the people out there who have the ability to do it and do it well -
Quite amazing, a vivid description of life on the other end of that telephone line. The plot is fast paced, the prose is witty, and while the book makes light of dark subjects, it also Elaine why, and explains why emergency workers must adopt that attitude, or face emotional breakdown. Highly recommended for anyone in emergency services, or anyone with an appreciation for the men and women who devote their lives to keeping the rest of us safe.
Great light read on quite a interesting subject. I have worked in call centres and I can relate to the author's initial training period (the big difference is she stuck it out, I was unable to and I would guarantee her job is more stressful that what I was doing)