The ATO is proud to welcome 911 Calltaker/Police/Fire/Teletype Dispatch Supervisor Gillian Ethridge to the stage to shed some light on one of the most crucial components to the first responder world: communications.

Gillian was born in Dallas in 1988 and she and her family moved to Fairfax, Virginia where she had dreams of becoming a firefighter as a teen and some of the best times of her life was when she was an explorer for the fire department.

Her dream was to be in the fire department but life, as it often does, takes you down several turns that you do not wish to take.  So, she started as a 911 call taker and fell in love with the faster pace and found her niche in problem solving and critical thinking behind the headset.

She applied for Dallas PD Communications as a police dispatcher in 2015 and thrived in the fast-paced city of Dallas, Texas.  But once again life took a different turn and Gillian and her new girlfriend decided to move back to Fairfax as both dove back into communications, and also dove into love as they married in 2017.

Gillian promoted to supervisor in 2020 and subsequently won an award for Excellence in Supervision for her agency her first year in.

Her story isn’t just about call taking and dispatching, the necessity for always being the quarterback for her officers when a “tone” comes out, an inaudible shriek calling for help, or being the one that calms the airwaves as chaos erupts. This story is also about resiliency….extreme mental and physical resiliency in professional and personal life.

She is dedicated to her profession, to her wife Jam, to her twin sister Dallas Detective Kristen Greene, and to the many first responders she assisted over her life.

Gillian Ethridge is truly the Heart Under the Headset.

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