I was a 911 dispatcher for 17 years. You are trained to put your personal issues aside when you take a call. I typically got so wrapped up in the calls I was taking that it took my mind off the issues I was dealing with. I most definitely had PTSD due to the calls I took over that period of time, however, my agency had the "suck it up" mentality.

I left the career two and a half years ago, not because of the difficulty of the job (I honestly feel that my personality was created for that field), but due to management.

I could no longer do my best to help the citizens in my area, but continue to fail them due to outdated policies and knowing that if I ever did make a mistake, I'd be thrown under the bus in a heartbeat.

The cons very much began to outweigh the joy that I had found in the job for so long. I always told my trainees, if you ever find yourself not caring about the people that you serve, it's time to leave. I still cared about the people, but my center could have burned down I wouldn't have given a crap. So, I left.