When you call 911 in Houston County at 3 a.m., she’s the one who answers

Our society is built around the daytime.

Most people work between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Restaurants and stores close at 9 p.m. when those people generally go home or to sleep.

But tragedy doesn’t stop when the sun goes down.

Caitlyn Campbell lives opposite to the average. When most of us are getting up to go to the gym or make breakfast at 5:30 a.m., she’s getting off of work. When you need emergency services in the middle of the night, she’s the one answering your call.

Campbell is one of 11 Telecommunications Deputies, or 911 Dispatchers, on the night shift at the Houston County E-911 Center.
It’s a job most people don’t think about until they need its services, but one person in Campbell’s life exposed her to it early.

“My aunt [Kelli Leary]…she is our maps lady and our data analyst, she’s wonderful,” Campbell said. “Before this [I] spent 10 years doing in-home health care for the elderly…after that I worked at a cupcake shop for roughly three months.”

At that time, Campbell was pregnant with her son and considered high-risk, so she and her husband decided it was best if she stayed home.

After giving birth, she was itching to get back to work.

“I decided I wanted to do something that was more fulfilling than making cupcakes,” Campbell said. “I’ve been coming [to the 911 center] and hanging out with [my aunt] since I was little…So it’s always been something I’ve always dreamt about doing. But putting it into practice and putting it into play was a really big thing for me.”

It was relatively easy for Campbell to get on, too. There’s no degree or external specialized training required.

“You don’t have to have any experience. They put you through a six-to-eight-ish week training course where we learn our operating procedures, our standards, all about the job,” Campbell said. “After book training [it] goes to a little bit of hands on training, where we put the new hires on the floor and they actually take calls with training officers who sit there with them.”

“They learn the nature codes and what call to take and how to answer questions,” she continued. “After they sign off they’ll go to the floor or they’ll call take for two weeks and then get in front of their first console. It’s all on the job you don’t have to have any experience, which is wonderful.”

In December 2020 she accepted a position on the night shift, a monumental adjustment for the Warner Robins native.

“It was really rough adjusting to nights because I’d never worked nights where I couldn’t sleep. When I worked in people’s homes I was allowed to sleep when they slept,” Campbell said. “But with a lot of caffeine I made it.”

It’s also tough for Campbell because she and her husband work opposite schedules. When she’s coming home he’s leaving for work; she said they see each other for maybe an hour a day.

But there are aspects of the job that make all the sacrifices worth it.

“As much as we have bad calls, the good calls outweigh them by so much…It’s just the most amazing feeling, helping someone on the roughest, toughest day of their life, it’s just mind blowing,” Campbell said.

Campbell admitted that the job can be overwhelming at first. When you start out you’re unable to handle certain calls and will need some level of handholding, but she urges those interested in the field to stick it through.

“Be open. Don’t take stuff that people say to you as negative responses. Make sure you’re someone that can grow,” Campbell said. “I know it seems really tough back there but it’s not…It’s a leap you have to take. Once you dip your toes in and [if] you think it’s not for you, that’s completely fine. No one’s going to judge you for it.

“But if you think you can’t do it because you think you’re not good enough, I would advise you to please just stick around a try for a little bit, because you’ll get past that hump eventually.”