One dark day two years ago, Brooke Bodden tried to end it all, but with the timely intervention of her mother and the guidance of a 911 dispatcher, the 16-year-old was revived, granting her a new lease on life.
“I was really, really grateful because obviously when all of that happened I had wanted to die so much. But they not only saved me physically, I feel like they also saved me mentally and gave me another chance at living,” Bodden, 18, said as she spoke with the Cayman Compass recently about her experience.
Bodden’s life is one on a list of many that Cayman’s 911 team has saved through their calm-and-collected approach in times of extreme distress.
On Friday, the men and women of the Department of Public Safety and Communications were celebrated for their service to the community.
Bodden, who is now employed and looking forward to the future, was among those cheering the team on.
She said she could not thank the 911 members and her mother enough for saving her life that day in 2022 when the teen was found on the bathroom floor.
Bodden said the 911 dispatcher guided her frantic mother through performing CPR over the phone and she was able to resuscitate her.
“The service that [my mother] received from the 911 service was what saved my life because it brought me back completely and I’m now completely physically healthy. The doctors were shocked. The paramedics were shocked I recovered,” she said.
She said she has recovered mentally and has “fought really hard to come back and I’m really grateful that I was given another opportunity to make my life better.”
More than a job
Hearing the stories of recovery from people like Bodden makes the job worth it for dispatchers like Alan Cameron Bush, who was honoured on Friday night at Hotel Indigo for his decades of service at 911.
Bush has been with the department since it was first launched in July 1996 and he said it was his commitment to the community that has kept him at the other end of the phone line all these years.
“I love my job. I love helping people, I just have a passion for it over the years,” he said, adding that among the highlights of his career was helping to deliver two babies.
“Believe it or not those are the least stressful calls for me,” he said, jokingly, as he spoke with the Compass last week about his career.
“I don’t know if I was supposed to have been a doctor or a paediatrician, but, yes, I think bringing life and saving lives in this job is the most comforting and rewarding part,” he said.
He advised young Caymanians considering a career in safety communications to take it seriously as they will literally have lives in their hands.
“You have to be committed to the job,” he said.
Newcomer of the year, dispatcher/telecommunicator Janelle Crooks, agrees.
She said in the eight months she has been at 911, she has learned a lot.
“Just being in a position where I can help, offer help and give care. That’s really important to me and that’s what I really love about the job,” she said, adding that “every emergency, every situation, every call is very different” and just knowing she made a difference is worth it.
Telecommunicator of the year Apollinia Lavia said she would not work anywhere else.
“Every day it’s something new. You wake up in the morning and you come in and you’re never prepared for what’s going to happen. The rush and the thrill of just knowing that you were able to accomplish something throughout the day and help somebody, however big or small it is, just helps you come back the next day,” she said.
Dispatcher/telecommunicator Camellia Alexander, who won the crisis management award, said being part of the department over the last five years has brought her personal happiness.
“The joy of helping people. The joy I get and I feel after I hang up from a call and they say thank you is [why I love my job],” she said.
Communication technology officer Mark Ross, who was named the Department of Public Safety Communications employee of the year, encouraged Caymanians to look at a career in the field of safety communications as it is a role that has immense importance in daily life.
“We carry out a vital role in the community in making the Cayman Islands a safe and a wonderful place to live and play,” he said.
Mental health resources
If you, or someone you know, is struggling with issues similar to those raised by this article, there are resources available to help.
- In an emergency, call 911.
- Mental Health Helpline. Call 1-800-534-6463 (MIND) Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, to talk to the Mental Health Helpline, which was established during the pandemic to provide support.
- The Alex Panton Foundation. The non-profit’s primary objective is to raise “awareness of mental illnesses affecting children and young adults in the Cayman Islands with a particular focus on anxiety and depression”.
- Department of Children and Family Services. For non-critical services provided by DCFS, email [email protected] or call 949-0290 in Grand Cayman and 948-2331 in Cayman Brac, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm.
- The Cayman Islands Crisis Centre. Provides support to all victims of domestic violence through “services and programmes focusing on domestic and sexual abuse”. Among its services, it provides shelter, counselling, a 24-7 crisis helpline on 943-2422 and a kids’ helpline on 649-5437.
- There are also a number of private health care providers, offering counselling and support, such as Infinite Mind Care and the Wellness Centre.
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