By Sonia Vani, community volunteer
It’s a familiar question that lingers after leaving home: Did I turn off the oven? For many of us, the answer wavers between bouts of certainty and self-doubt, often requiring a return home to finally be sure. It is always worth the extra effort.
As she pulls into the parking lot before a night shift, Melissa Chartrand asks herself the same thing. She works with fire—more than most people ever will—so she’s developed a simple trick. Before leaving home, she takes a photo of her oven. A quick glance at her phone confirms it: off. Reassured, she can then turn her full attention to what lies ahead.
Melissa steps into the Ottawa Fire Call Centre, where she will spend the next 14 hours of her night shift as a call-taker and dispatcher with her fellow colleagues in Platoon C.
It’s work she genuinely loves. “I grew up in Orléans and studied Police Foundations. I knew I wanted a career helping people. I took a chance on this role—and seven years later, I am still here!”
Many of the calls Melissa answers begin at 9-1-1, triaged by police communicators before being transferred to fire or paramedics. Others come directly from the Ottawa Paramedic Service, since firefighters are often first to arrive on scene. No matter the source, every call carries urgency. When she picks up, her voice is calm, reassuring and purposeful—balancing empathy with clarity. “Sometimes I have to remind callers to take a breath. Then I can literally hear them inhale and exhale deeply. I gather the facts and reassure them that help is on the way.”
Inside the call centre, the atmosphere is not what one might expect. There is no chaos—just a steady hum of voices, the clicking of keystrokes, and low beeps and tones from various devices. Call after call, dispatchers like Melissa guide distressed callers away from dangers while extracting the key details they need to ensure that the right resources are sent, as quickly and as safely as possible. The work is demanding in ways that extend beyond the calls themselves. Shift work is perhaps the most challenging part of the work—long hours, nights, weekends, missed holidays and social gatherings—can take a toll. “The people in your life have to understand that you’ll miss things and sometimes sleep when the world is awake.” Blackout curtains and a noise machine help, she explains, but support from family, friends, and colleagues is what really makes the difference.
Melissa’s own parents understand. Her partner, a police officer, understands. And her team—those who work alongside her for 62 hours per week—understand better than anyone. “You have to surround yourself with people who accept that you chose this job to help others.”
Whether guiding a distressed caller or relaying supplemental information to a team of firefighters already en route, Melissa’s ability to listen, process, and respond in real time is essential to the outcome. Yet, for most people outside of this industry, an emergency response begins with sirens and flashing lights. “When people see a fire truck go by”, Melissa explains, “they don’t think about what it took to get it there safely and quickly.” This common misconception is understandable but does not seem to affect her at all. As platoon C’s supervisor Jessy Kouk puts it: “If no one is talking about us, we’re probably doing a good job.”
Still, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which happens annually during the first full week of April, offers an important moment for us to pause and recognize the people who coordinate emergency responses behind the scenes.
Speaking of her role with characteristic humility, Melissa highlights that “If there’s one thing I’d want people to know, it’s just that call-takers and dispatchers chose this career to help people on their bad days.”
And shift after shift, Melissa does just that — showing up fully for her team, for first responders on the ground, and for the residents of Ottawa. That is, once she knows for certain that her oven is turned off.
To Melissa Chartrand, to Jessy Kouk, to everyone in Platoon C at Ottawa Fire, and to all of Ottawa’s call-takers and dispatchers—thank you. Your voices and competence are indispensable to our safety. You are, truly, our “first” first responders.
