Several cowboys, cowgirls and an Indian answered the 911 phones Wednesday. 

Such a situation sounds the set-up to a joke, but costumes are the norm at dispatch headquarters this week as dispatchers celebrate National Telecommunicators Week.

“This is the only week of fun really. This is a really thankless job,” longtime dispatcher Cindi Alkhatib said. “We try to celebrate each other and the good job we do. We have a lot of hard-working, intelligent people dedicated to this job. You have to be dedicated or you won’t last a minute.”

The bit of silliness is a welcome addition for the group of emergency services workers whose day rarely ends with a punch line. Dispatchers are on the other end of the phone constantly as someone is living out the worst moments of their life. They’ve heard screams, pleas for help and just about any horrors imaginable. And it comes in droves, E-911 interim director Chuck Tate said. It’s not if the phone rings with an emergency but rather when.

The Warren County E-911 office receives an average of 338 calls for service per day — about 14 an hour, Tate said. Some days and weekends peak well above 400 calls.

“In addition to that, you have everything that’s initiated by officers. That’s additional stuff,” he said.

People who call 911 are typical frustrated for any number of reasons and can get irritated at the questions dispatchers are required to ask.

“I think people think as long as they are talking to us, no one is coming. That’s not true. Once we get basic information, we can send you a unit,” Alkhatib said.

After handling that heavy volume of emergency a little stress relief in the form of a costume contest and some other fun and games is in order.

“I think we deserve as much respect as the officers or firefighters,” Alkhatib said. “We are the first first responders.”

Contests include labeling pictures from an assortment of places around Vicksburg to achieving the highest Scrabble score, Alkhatib said. There’s also a poker run where off-duty dispatchers are visiting the city’s fire stations in an effort to meet the firefighters they speak to by radio every day.

Despite being in constant contact with other emergency service personnel, dispatchers rarely see any firefighters, deputies or police.

“Most of the ones I know, I know by unit number not by face or name. I think if I saw most of them out of uniform, I wouldn’t recognize them except for their voice,” Alkhatib said.

About 60 businesses donated prizes for a series of contests dispatchers can complete when they are off duty.

“They’ve gotten stuff from all over town. Restaurants have been providing lunch for each shift,” Tate said. “We really appreciate the support.”