Carol Adams

It’s not unusual for Carol Adams to be at work at 4:30 in the morning and remain on the job until late at night. She wants to ensure that her staff of 39 has a working environment that allows them to perform their jobs effectively and efficiently. “They’re under enough stress as it is. Most people don’t understand that,” Adams says.

As director of the Division of Emergency Communications for the Stafford County (Va.) Sheriff’s Office, Adams is a member of the sheriff’s department command staff. Having relocated for her current job, she is very happy with her boss. “I probably have the best sheriff [Charlie Jett] in the state to work for. I thoroughly enjoy working for him,” she says.

Adams oversees the 9-1-1 center staff, public safety countywide radio system and emergency communications. Her job is challenging and carries a high level of responsibility that involves managing people and their needs. She must ensure that the needs of telecommunicators are being met, and she is there to guide them. “Every time they pick up the phone, it’s different. The situation, the needs, the environment are different. Every domestic is different,” she says.

Dispatchers have the opportunity to calm down a domestic before law enforcement arrives on scene or keep law enforcement personnel safe by making them aware of the situation they will encounter. “Often, the community doesn’t understand the role [telecommunicators] play. Without them, the rest of the public safety community would have an extremely difficult time doing their job,” she says.

Adams began her career dispatching in 1980 in Hanover County, Va., and was there for five years. She then moved to Germany for 1½ years before returning to Virginia and moving to the Tidewater area. She subsequently worked in the arena of civil litigation for 11 years. At the same time, she was training on weekends and nights part time and working on-call for York County and James City, Va.

“I’ve had some very good mentors over the years. I still consider myself a dispatcher at heart. I like the uniqueness of it and being of service to the community and being able to give back to the community that has been good to me,” she says.

Adams is charged with looking for grant opportunities for the Office of Homeland Security and is on the regular planning committee for inoperability for Region Two in Virginia. She has played a significant role in securing grant money for improvements, including upgrading the radio system.

Adams is active with the Initiative Action Team for 9-1-1 and is on the Funding Formulating Committee.

For the past 4½ years, she has served as chair of the Standards Development Committee for APCO, and been involved in getting standards developed and identified. “I can honestly say I was able to give back to something I love. It’s been very rewarding,” she says.

In addition, she has served as a Group Leader for APCO and served as a committee liaison to APCO committees for the Executive Committee. “I’ve enjoyed doing that,” she says.

Adams is concerned about the lack of interest that people in public safety. “This industry has grown so much in the 30 years I’ve been in it. Today, I believe, it has turned into a true profession that, in a lot of ways, isn’t recognized that way,” she says. Adams says public safety is involved in rapidly processing information that’s coming in and going out. “Our dispatchers are fully cross trained. They are literally doing five jobs at one time. I believe dispatching is a stressful job,” she says.

Throughout the history of her career, Adams has held patience and understanding as her most important skills. She believes exercising patience and making an effort not to be reactive is important. Although Adams herself has a stressful job that entails working with people, scheduling, answering to her boss and finishing projects in a specified time frame, she believes her stress is not as bad as the stress that dispatchers experience.

As a pianist, Adams alleviates her own stress by playing the piano for one to two hours each day, camping and spending time with her four dogs and her family. Married with no children, Adams is the guardian of two nieces, ages 14 and 18. She has a total of 27 nieces and nephews and 21 great-nieces and nephews, and she says she “loves being an aunt.”

Adams’ tenured career has demonstrated passion for her work, combined with dedication and commitment. Her talents have not gone unnoticed. She was awarded the 2012 APCO Communications Center Director of the Year Award. “I’m extremely proud of my staff. They make my job easy. They step up when they need to. I get the pleasure of being the director of the Center,” she says.

As proud as Adams may be of her staff, undoubtedly, her staff is as proud of her for a job well done.

About the Author
Karen L. Bune serves as an adjunct professor at George Mason University and Marymount University in Virginia, and is a consultant for the Training and Technical Assistance Center for the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. She is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer on public safety issues. Bune is Board Certified in Traumatic Stress and Domestic Violence, and she is a Fellow of The Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and the National Center for Crisis Management.