The Lubbock Police 911 Communications Center is experiencing a shortage of dispatchers. The center is looking for dispatchers to help with the high volume of emergency calls they get daily.

“We never know what we are going to answer,” said Melissa Orosco, interim manager of communications. “We don’t get people on their best days, we get people on their worst days.”

The 911 center has eleven openings for dispatchers.

“Unfortunately, once they have people screaming on the phone [some] can’t handle it and there is a lot of turn over in this career and that’s valid all through the country,” said Orosco.

Orosco said the center receives 40,000 calls a month. Orosco has worked in the department 22 years and during her time she said she’s seen caller volume severely increase throughout the years.

“Calls can range from anything from animal control to shootings to major accidents and minor accidents, all the calls come in through us,” said Orosco.

You are eligible to work as a 911 dispatcher as long as you do not have any convictions, can type fifty words per minute and can calmly deal with callers who can be experiencing a terrifying moment.

Out of the staff of 35, nine of their dispatchers are bilingual. Orosco said they use a tool called language line which helps translate any language instantly.

“If you want to help people and are okay being behind the scenes then this might be the job for you,” said Orosco.

If you’re interested in applying for a dispatcher job you can apply online here.