Building Resiliency: The Story of a Traumatized 911 Operator

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by  Giselle Chu, a police department employee that has had an interesting experience outside of her job that has given her a reason for resilience and an opportunity to build more self-awareness about how she could take care of herself after a traumatic incident.   Giselle Chu was born and raised in South Vancouver to immigrant parents from the Philippines. After considering a career in nursing, Giselle set her sights on law enforcement as another way of helping. Giselle attended Langara College studying General Arts and then moved on to the Justice Institute of British Columbia. At 19 years old, she started in the student program at E-Comm 911 before taking a job as a call taker, responding to 911 calls.   In this episode, Giselle talks about her family, her upbringing, and how she decided to start a career in law enforcement by first working for E-Comm as a dispatcher for 911. Giselle openly shares a particular event while she assisted a family who was giving CPR to a five-month-old baby.   Key Takeaways: [1:40] Giselle shares her family history and how she decided on a career in law enforcement. [4:05] Giselle started working for E-Comm at 19 years old in the student program. [8:10] Giselle shares the incident that marked her forever, assisting a 5-month-old baby who was nearly dying. [11:18] Giselle's first response after help arrived to take care of the family and the baby was to move on with her day as if nothing had happened. [12:30] Giselle talks about what she learned about crying while she was growing up, crying was only allowed when someone passed, otherwise it was punished. [14:40] Giselle realized she was not fit to work at E-Comm anymore nor to keep studying, and she decided to take a break. [15:50] Giselle also had some family issues to take care of. [16:28] Giselle shows her gratitude to her amazing support system. [18:08] Giselle had to quit her job at E-Comm, she was not the same compassionate and patient person she used to be. [18:50] Giselle gave herself permission to feel bad. [19:55] What did Giselle learn from this experience? [21:37] “I am not going to let this define me.” [22:48] Giselle shares what has been like to be able to share her story.   Mentioned in this Episode: K9 Coffee Co   Looking for More Episodes? You can find more episodes of Bend Don’t Break on iTunes, Google Play, and most other major podcasting platforms.   Connect with the Delta Police Department: Follow the Delta Police on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Visit their website at DeltaPolice.ca.