Burning Man is more or less an “experience”….. that can’t quite be put into words and photographs alone don’t convey the story. 55mph winds the evening of my arrival generated “white out” conditions such that I could not see my fingers on my own extended arm…. And that fine talc and alkaline dust magically found its way in and coated everything in the interior of my truck as well as the camper. This was followed the next night by rain, which helped to tamp down the dust but then we had torrential rains for 3 more days resulting in slippery clay streets, which then generated a lot of ankle and leg fractures and ambulances couldn’t enter the City (We had to rely on the QRVs, little off-road buggies). That then hardened into rough and “lumpy” pockmarked surface which made bicycle riding or even walking difficult, if not treachorous.
Cell phone coverage is very spotty and unreliable. Several thousand handheld radios were issued to Rangers, BLM personnel, Medics, Camp Leaders, etc. Working in 911 dispatch meant that we had a full-time presence monitoring the “911” emergency call radio channel as well as a couple of critical Operations frequencies. Not all radios provide positional information so when working with their “Computer Aided Dispatch” (CAD) system first thing to nail down on any incoming call is the caller’s exact position (Radial coordinate grid is in use) and nature of emergency (Medical, Trauma, Lost Child, etc.) and the CAD system helps select and deploy closest resources.
Usually, 4 dispatchers working any single shift. I worked multiple shifts and calls came in pretty much every hour of every day….. Early mornings when the sun rose is when reports of unconscious bodies discovered laying on the playa would come in, we dispensed a lot of Narcan doses!
Understand, I’m a “Trainee” dispatcher. Never been before. On “Burn Night” (I missed the “Burn”) I was working 911 comms, that evening alone we handled 19 or so “Trauma” type calls, 5 or 6 “Medical Calls”, two ambulance runs to Reno, a Hazmat call, one lost child call as well as three “Life Flights” in and out of the local BM Airstrip (One for a burn victim to UC Davis) and then a call came in for a Burning Man’s first ever homicide (and mine!).
I need time to “process” what I’ve just experienced. No doubt, the camping conditions are brutal, the weather is brutal, the 911 role is serious and calls come in non-stop…. But the experience does “grow” on you and some sense of satisfaction knowing you’ve helped people that really depend on you! I took in some calls and lined them up with timley dispatched resources. My chest puffs with pride now, I may have helped to save a life (or more) and this is my prime “take-away” for the entire experience.