Kaytlynn Victory-Kosinski never dreamed she would become a dispatcher for the Central Communications Center.
The Crawfordsville native grew up thinking she’d like to be an art teacher. However, life had other plans. After graduating from Crawfordsville High School, she earned a degree in business administration with a concentration in human resource management from the local Ivy Tech Community College and began job hunting.
At the time, she also was planning a wedding and saw an ad for a dispatcher on Facebook.
“I thought that’s interesting, that could be something,” Victory-Kosinski said. “It sounds like a way to help people that’s better than what I had gone to school for.”
Almost seven years later, and Victory-Kosinski cannot imagine working anywhere else, or working a traditional 9-5 desk job.
“This job can be really hard. No matter what you go through, what calls you take, no matter how difficult it gets, no matter how short staffed we are, and we are incredibly short staffed, you still come back,” she said.
In the past year, she, and her husband Cody, became parents to twin sons, Conner and Nolan. Despite navigating the challenges of parenthood and a career, she maintains great pride in doing a job that has a real purpose.
“Everybody is calling in here on their worst day ever, and I just try to put myself in their shoes, or the shoes of someone you love more than anything. If someone were to call in here right now, like my mother, how would I want her to be treated? I would hope if she were having a panic attack, someone would walk her through it, staying calm, keeping her calm until help arrived to take over,” she said.
Remaining calm and collected is vital to the job, as is multi-tasking.
“This job isn’t for everyone,” Victory-Kosinski said. “But we encourage anyone with an interest to come in and observe and see if it is right for you.”
Many of the dispatchers employed at the communications center are local, which means they each may take a call from someone they know.
Dispatchers must learn how to compartmentalize, putting their own emotions on hold while they help a caller or responding agency.
“It doesn’t mean that when the call ends you don’t have a moment or a just need a good cry,” Victory-Kosinski said.
She is grateful for the relationships that are built with the officers and firefighters from the various area agencies.
“I just really want to be able to go the extra mile, dig for information to help the officers or firefighters on the scene because their job is so important,” she said. “I want to be able to know and use all the programs we have to do everything properly.”
Victory-Kosinski also takes comfort when an officer or firefighter provides dispatchers with closure to a call.
“It’s OK to be behind the scenes as long as you have a good team and the support from the departments,” she said.
Victory-Kosinski is a firm believer in a person should thrive or bloom where they are planted.
“I didn’t think this would be my job, ever. I really thought I would be an art teacher,” she said.
Instead of teaching art, she now shares her drawings with her co-workers on the white boards in the communication center. And, of course, scrapbooking for her infant sons is another creative outlet she enjoys.
“I still can’t believe I ended up here, I didn’t think I would stay here, but I’m happy here, thriving here, and I’m just going to stay right here focused on my job and my family.”
