Seasoned dispatcher taking final calls

People locally depend on a voice on the other end of the line for emergencies. For the past 27 years, that's been Donna Roberts.

"Frankfort dispatch, dispatcher Roberts," rolls off her tongue.

Roberts, who started as an emergency dispatcher at the police department in 1980 at age 24, is working her last day before retirement Friday.

"I still love the work," Roberts said. "But it's time."

Roberts " officially a senior telecommunicator/terminal agency coordinator at Frankfort Fire and Emergency Medical Services " has responded to several life-threatening calls. Her voice is consistently calm and reassuring as she tries to get help as quickly as possible.

She's been on the phone with people when they died, tried to figure out where a call is coming from when a child in on the phone, has heard people being injured in domestic disputes and sent emergency vehicles to homes where children's lives are in danger.

"It can be frustrating," she said. "You just want to reach through the phone and help those people."

The most difficult situation, however, is responding to a call concerning someone in the family, Roberts said.

"I've had to send an ambulance twice to get my mother," she said.

After almost three decades of being there for others, Roberts is going to find time for herself. This summer she's planning a six-week trip to Europe with her only daughter Amanda, 12.

"It's something I've always wanted to do," Roberts said. "I love to travel and I am really excited."

After her long-awaited trip to London and Paris, Roberts plans on returning to Danville and finding another job.

"I'm not the type of person not to work," she said. "Hopefully, I can find something closer to home."

Roberts makes the one-hour commute because her husband, Larry, is a police sergeant in Danville.

And Roberts is definitely qualified. She's a 2000 graduate of Midway College with a bachelor's degree in organizational management.

But leaving dispatch will not be easy for Roberts, a supervisor since 1989.

"I am going to miss the people in dispatch," Roberts said. "I feel like they have been my second family. We are a team."

Her retirement will leave a major void, her coworkers say.

"I'm going to miss her knowledge and her friendship," said Dee Dee Bryant, who has worked with

Roberts for 10 years. "I have worked with Donna for what seems like forever."

Jessica Wooldridge, who has known and worked with Roberts for five years, says she will miss her

wisdom.

"I'm going to miss her knowledge she has been able to give to me," she said. "I'm always asking her questions. She has all the answers."

Roberts wants to make sure her replacement will provide the same wisdom she has.

"I just want to make sure they have the capabilities and knowledge to do the job," Roberts said.