Dispatcher Honored for Decades Talking County Through Crises

With lights flashing and sirens blaring, dozens of first responders escorted longtime Lincoln County Communications Center dispatcher Bobbie Robinson home Wednesday, April 9 as the final shift of her 39-year career drew to a close.

“You will always be considered a member of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office,” LCSO Chief Deputy Rand Maker said outside the Waldoboro municipal building, where the convoy paused for handshakes, hugs, and congratulations. There, on behalf of Sheriff Todd Brackett and the first responders and citizens of Lincoln County, Maker presented the dispatcher with the award of “Honorary Detective, Retired.”

Robinson is an excellent “sleuth,” LCSO Lt. Brendan Kane said. In addition to serving as a dispatcher, she helped the department gather information on cases and was always quick to locate needed records or uncover details about a case online.

“She’s been a fantastic dispatcher, and I’ve always teased that if you’re looking for somebody on the a sleuth, and she’s been fantastic for us throughout all these years,” Kane said.

Lincoln County Communications Director Tara Doe said Robinson’s commitment to her community made her an exceptional team member in a challenging field.

“She is tireless and absolutely driven to make sure that our officers were safe and that people received the help they needed,” Doe said. “She just wanted to make sure everybody was safe, and she continued to have that desire through all of her years here. I think that’s what made her such a great dispatcher: she just wanted to take care of people. That’s something that was always in her heart.”

Other staff members said Robinson’s professionalism and quick thinking made her ideal for the profession. They agreed responders felt safe when she was handling their calls.

“Bobbie has protected every one of us,” said Boothbay EMS Chief Dan Gardner. “She’s had our backs and kept us safe … When things get hot and heavy, she’s the one you want on the other side of the radio.”

“You always felt safe with Bobbie. We knew we were going to get home safe,” said Derek Booker, chief of Waldoboro EMS. “She’ll be sorely missed.”

Robinson, who grew up in Wiscasset, started working as a dispatcher for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at the age of 23. At the time, the Lincoln County Communications Center did not yet exist as its own entity. Rather, dispatch was part of LCSO, making Robinson a part-time deputy, though with her two young daughters in mind she stuck to dispatch and did not go out on patrol, she said.

Robinson was drawn to the role because her family had always valued helping others. Her father served on the Wiscasset Police Department when she was young, and her family volunteered for years with the American Legion. Working for the LCSO seemed like a good fit, she said.

Additionally, as a single mother to two toddlers, Robinson was seeking a job with benefits that would allow her to support her daughters. Dispatch became that job, she said.

When Robinson first started, dispatchers worked in the basement of the Lincoln County Courthouse, which also housed a jail. Part of the job entailed checking on people held overnight, Robinson said.

“I used to have to walk down to the cell block to make sure nobody was doing anything they weren’t supposed to be,” she recalled.

The dispatchers would later move to the building across the parking lot that is now the sheriff’s office. The glass-walled dispatch room was sometimes called “the fish bowl,” Robinson said.

Eventually, dispatch became commissioned as its own entity, and the newly formed Lincoln County Communications Center moved into its current building, between the sheriff’s office and courthouse.

“We felt the necessity to be independent because we served so many different agencies and so many different types of agencies – all the police departments, fire departments, and EMS,” Robinson said.

Today, Lincoln County Communications controls 911 dispatch for all first responders in the county and some fire agencies in Kennebec County.

Answering calls to 911 means Robinson is often a witness to peoples’ worst days. But she has always been a realist, the dispatcher said, and does not let her work affect her outlook on life.

“I was always pretty realistic. I didn’t really think that everybody’s life was a fairytale all the time,” Robinson said. “People that call, they’re calling on their worst day. To them, it’s an emergency, or a crisis, or it has urgency, because they feel like they don’t know where to turn and they need help. Sometimes it’s a little help, and sometimes it’s an awful lot.”

Robinson estimated she had answered “hundreds of thousands” of 911 calls over the course of her career. Being the voice on the other end of the line for hundreds of thousands of people on each of their “worst days” requires presence of mind and the ability to read a situation quickly, she said.

“You need to be compassionate and empathetic. Sometimes you need to be stern and put your foot down to get their attention. A lot of times, when people have an emergency and it startles or frightens them, they become angry – and if you’re the person on the other end of the phone, you’re the center of their attention. It might not be very pleasant,” she said.

Over the years, Robinson said, she learned what to say to help callers calm down. Being professional and confident are important, she said; adding details to let callers know that help is on the way can help, too.

“It’s tough sometimes for people. They’re not trained for an emergency. When they’re in the middle of it, it seems like it takes forever,” Robinson said. “It can be calming to people to say, ‘I know exactly where you are.’ I’ve even told people what color their house is… You can almost hear them let out a sigh of relief.”

On the first Monday of her retirement, Robinson said she was still getting used to having more unstructured time.

“I feel like I’m supposed to be somewhere,” she laughed.

In the coming years, she plans to travel with her husband throughout Maine and the United States and spend time with family.

Overall, Robinson said, she was proud of her many years as a dispatcher.

“It was an honor to work for the county, for the citizens, and for everyone who visits,” she said.

Doe said Robinson had left a lasting impact on Lincoln County’s citizens and first responders.

“Anyone who worked with her over the years learned so much from her,” she said. “She made all of the responders and dispatchers alike feel like they were part of her family.”

To the first responders gathered for her sendoff on April 9, Robinson said she wanted them all, above all, to continue to look out not only for the citizens of the county, but for one another.

“I know you guys will be OK. I know you’ll continue to do a fantastic job,” she said.