It’s The Children, Says 911 Operator
The dying children are the worst. The anguished cries of their parents, baby sitters and friends haunt Dennis Bonneau long after he’s hung up the 911 line.
“That’s the reason I have ulcers, I don’t sleep at night. After some calls, I go outside and bawl my eyes out,” he says, fingering a box of Marlboro Lights in his shirt pocket.
At 20, Dennis discovered a great adrenaline rush in dispatching cop, fire and medical emergency calls.
But eight years on the job have implanted a painful question mark in his brain.
“We never find out what happens,” he says, shaking his head.
“That’s the biggest reason for burnout.”
He spent weeks learning to negotiate, comfort, walk callers through CPR while they await the emergency crews he summons for them.
When those crews arrive, Dennis’ job usually ends.
For his own sanity, he follows up on some people, like little Alex Buss.
Dennis answered when Kevin Merwin, the man caring for Alex, called Kootenai County’s 911 center for help last July. Merwin identified himself as the baby sitter. Two-year-old Alex was unconscious after he fell from a bed, he told Dennis.
Dennis dispatched ambulances and paramedics. Meanwhile, Merwin told Dennis’ supervisor that Alex had quit breathing.
“I started to get really worried then,” Dennis says, reliving the call.
His supervisor began CPR instruction to Merwin while Dennis relayed everything that was happening to the medical personnel en route. Alex didn’t respond.
“I started to lose it, to the point I couldn’t talk,” Dennis says, his voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. “It’s any kid. They make it tough.”
He had to slap himself, swallow, breathe deeply to dispatch an air ambulance. Moments later, the ambulances and paramedics arrived, and Dennis was no longer needed.
He stood outside the 911 center a long time after that call, smoking, asking aloud the questions he couldn’t answer.
“How could a little kid go swimming, then fall off a bed and go into full arrest?” he asks, between gritted teeth.
The air ambulance people called Dennis to tell him Alex’s pulse had started. Dennis heard later from hospital workers that abuse was suspected. When he felt rage quicken his heartbeat, Dennis distanced himself from the case.
He learned the outcome a day later when he read that Alex had died.
“It’s one of the few cases closed, but it’s not satisfying,” Dennis says.
“Whenever a child is lost, there’s never a good enough answer. You feel … cheated.”
But he doesn’t quit, just in case next time he makes a difference.
Helping hands
Gerald Durbin lost everything but his wife and three children in a fire just north of Spirit Lake a few weeks ago. He admits he cried and yelled “Why me?” But that got him nowhere. So he began looking for help and found plenty of it.
The American Red Cross paid for a motel for a few days, gave the Durbins food vouchers and replaced their eyeglasses. Louisiana-Pacific chipped in $500 and the kids at the Clagstone School gave $76.
In all, Gerald raised about $3,500 toward rebuilding, but needs another $4,000. Dozens of friends have offered to help. The excavating is done. He plans to build a 1,000-square-foot cement block house on his acreage.
“I can do it before Thanksgiving if I can get the money,” Gerald says. Any Bank of America branch will accept donations to account 9783-0012-33.
Panhandle almanac
The predictions are in: lots of snow this year. We’ve heard that before, but I have to agree. The old toe joint’s been achin’. Must mean wet and cold on the way.
What’s your prediction for winter and what is it based on? Animal fur length or the length of southbound airstream caravans? Forecast for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax, 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
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