By Pamela Sroka-Holzmann
The Express-Times
LEHIGH TOWNSHIP, Penn. — A Northampton County 911 dispatcher is being celebrated for helping an armed man with dementia surrender safely to police on Thursday.
The 71-year-old allegedly held a handgun toward his wife Thursday afternoon as he stood in a hallway of their Lehigh Township home, police said.
The woman, knowing her husband suffered from various health issues including dementia and a sleeping disorder, picked up the phone and dialed 911.
On the other end was a female dispatcher who put her lengthy emergency training to de-escalate situations into action, Kelly Prentice, communications manager for Northampton County, told lehighvalleylive.com Friday afternoon.
The victim hit speakerphone as the dispatcher spoke to the man in a “calming voice,” reassuring him that responding officers were there to help, not harm him, Prentice said.
Lehigh Township officers, meanwhile, responded and were already outside, forming a perimeter around the home, police said.
“She used her experience and instincts to maneuver through the call and de-escalate the situation,” Prentice said of the dispatcher. “She spoke calmly, listened to the caller and reassured the caller that help was being dispatched.”
The dispatcher then asked the man to put down the gun and meet the officers outside with his hands up. The man eventually obliged and was taken into custody without incident, police said.
Prentice said dispatchers are trained using industry standards from the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials that are taught by certified instructors in the event of emergencies.
“This teaches the dispatchers how to handle all different types of calls from all sorts of callers including those with behavioral health emergencies,” Prentice said.
Michael Lenner, acting director of Northampton County Emergency Management Services, said dispatchers undergo 200 hours of in-classroom training followed by 542 hours of on-the-job training.
Township police also praised the dispatcher on the department’s Facebook page, saying her words might have saved lives that day. There were no reported injuries in the incident.
“This outcome is due in no small part to the professionalism, composure, and life-saving communication of the 911 dispatcher,” police said in the post.
Emergency dispatchers are often the invisible lifeline of emergency response — they gather critical information, guide victims, support officers, and in cases like this, directly prevent violence, police said.
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