“Now, everything is different,” Ellison said. “Things now are about 95 percent paperless, technology has made things a lot easier with being able to track where calls are coming from and we now have three full-time dispatchers in the office at all times.”

Ellison works part-time in the Chilton County E-911 office during the day shift on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and works full time at Central Alabama Electric Cooperative as a dispatcher dealing with calls associated with power outages and notifying crews when power lines are down.

Ellison knows he must treat each call as an emergency but has fielded a few crazy calls throughout the years.

“I have answered an emergency call from someone who was scared of a roach,” Ellison said. “There was also a call that came through from someone needing help to get their toenails cut.”

Ellison said other calls have been more difficult in nature including anything involving a small child.

“I think those are the most difficult to respond to,” Ellison said. “Children are so young and sometimes they experience things that could end tragically and that by far is one of the hardest things to deal with. We are often looking at a telephone, but it is a human being on the other end. The biggest thing we have to remember is to remain calm and help that person on the other end of the line.”

When Ellison isn’t working as a dispatcher, he spends time with his wife Felicia and four children.

“I don’t go home and talk about the calls with my family,” Ellison said. “There is a privacy act but those calls aren’t for people to know about. My job is to help you get the help that you need and then it becomes the past and a new day. Our goal is to have a new day every day.”

Ellison said he considers it an honor to be selected for Dispatcher of the Year.

“It is humbling and gratifying to be noticed for your work,” Ellison said. “‘I’ is not in ‘team’ though it is not just me in this organization. Everyone here does a great job.”