April 11-17 was National 911 Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. In part one of a two-part feature, KUAM News spoke with a few of the island's dispatchers and the important role they play when it comes to saving lives.

When you call 911, it's just not about 911 telecommunicators providing help over the phone, but often getting help to your location. EMD Ira Charfauros says the role of a dispatcher is to act as a support unit to firefighters and medics. Charfauros, who has been an Emergency Medical Dispatch for almost a year and a half, he remembers the first time he had to talk a frantic caller through CPR, when a man, who was just watching TV, suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"All I could hear in the background is a woman screaming for her husband and begging me to try and help him. The only one who was able to talk to me was the son," said Charfauros.

He recalls what happened after his shift ended that day, saying, "The first person I saw was my dad sitting in the living room and it just...it was just difficult to try and remain calm about it."

Asked if he knew that E911 dispatchers are ranked among the most stressful occupations, he said, "When i feel that the job is getting to me, I actually talk to my co-workers and decompress about certain calls or whatever is bothering me at that time. Its not easy talking to family and friends about it because they don't understand certain aspects of what you have to go through at the end of the day."

He did want to get out to the community this - "Answering our questions does not help the delay of the units, especially since we are trying to get a full sense of the situation, just telling us where and when, does not exactly give us a full picture," he said. "If you're not taking the time to give us the correct information, such as if they're not breathing, we're not providing the necessary help for that person."

At the end of the day, he is grateful to be a dispatcher. "The most rewarding thing about being a dispatcher is knowing you are the first person people call to for help. And knowing that at the end of the call, you did your best to give them the help that they needed," he said.