CAREERS

CAREERS Answering the 911 Call

Emergency dispatch telecommunicator Megan (Lashway) Daub ’06 on her life saving, frenetic job

Imajored in psychology at NU with every intention of getting my master’s degree in social work after graduation. For a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen. I joke that I kind of fell into emergency service work because I was bored. About 12 years ago, I was looking for a meaningful way to serve the community in New York where I was living. My roommates suggested I join the local volunteer fire department. I did and, as part of my training, enrolled in an EMT-Basic course. I fell in love with it while I was in class, and I was encouraged to pursue a career as a paramedic. During my required course clinicals, I had worked a pretty bad call—a mother and child who were run over by a drunk driver while on foot. The paramedic who was training me complimented my performance and skills on that call and told me that I really had a knack for it.

A bit later, I moved North Carolina to help nanny for a Norwich friend while her husband was deployed to Iraq. I continued my EMT training and completed paramedic school in 2012. I worked as a critical care paramedic for about a year. I had a nearly two-hour commute, however, so I started looking for a job closer to home. The police department in Havelock, N.C., hired me as a dispatcher (telecommunicator), and I have been working there ever since. It’s now eight years and counting.

In my role, I field all 911 and non-emergency calls for the police department and our fire/EMS department. It’s a fast-paced and often frenetic job. Just when I think I’ve heard everything, something stranger is always bound to come along. The job I do is often crazy and can be stressful, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Over the years, I’ve talked people through every situation imaginable. Some have just witnessed a shooting. Others, I’m coaching them on how to perform CPR to hopefully save someone’s life. I’ve stayed on the phone with a caller who was suicidal, talked to someone who had barricaded themselves in their residence, and everything in between.

In 2018, my community was devastated by Hurricane Florence. Havelock and the surrounding areas were essentially ground zero for that natural disaster. I have never worked so hard and for so long in my life. We lived at the police station for four straight days.

The experiences have been both heartbreaking and, at times, downright funny. The bonds I’ve forged with my fellow dispatchers, my police officers, fire fighters, and EMTs run deep. It is an honor to serve alongside of them.

Norwich taught me how to think on my feet, problem solve on the fly, and communicate with people from all walks of life. It has been a tremendous asset in my line of work.

Even on the hard days, I love my job. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. n WEARABLE JOB DESCRIPTION Megan Daub ’06 in her favorite t-shirt. “It’s funny and is an accurate description of what I do for 12 hours a day.”

Photo courtesy Megan Daub ’06

CAREERS Supporting NATO

Bob Reddington ’80 on the power of liberal arts, his 20-year Army service, and his unexpected career path in Europe supporting NATO governance structures F or the past 21 years, I have worked for the NATO Support and Procurement Organisation (NSPO), headquartered in Luxembourg. The work is both interesting and unique, but not the career that I imagined for myself 40 years ago. I majored in English and philosophy at Norwich and commissioned in the Army Transportation Corps after graduation. At the time, I thought I’d put in a few years, gaining leadership experience and a solid foundation in logistics management that would open doors for some related future career. Instead, I found I thoroughly enjoyed my diverse Army assignments, which took me all over the world, including a 14-month stint in Antarctica (before satellite communications), two years in Saudi Arabia, and three long tours in Europe. When I retired as a lieutenant colonel after 20 years of Army service, I began to consider options for a second career. I decided to apply and serve as a NATO international staff member. Luckily, this was another optimal choice for me.

NSPO’s mission is to provide responsive, effective, and costefficient acquisition, procurement, logistics, operational and systems support and services to all NATO Allies, NATO military authorities, and partner nations. Currently heading the NSPO Office of Chairperson and Secretariat and leading its engagement with the members of the Agency Supervisory Board (representing all 30 NATO nations) as well as other key stakeholders, we manage and coordinate governance functions necessary to oversee the activities of its executive body, namely, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency.

My assignments within NSPO have reinforced the importance of well-founded structures, processes, and frameworks. These principles form the bedrock for effective governance, which in turn facilitates nations’ informed decision-making. A corollary lesson is the value of problem-solving, which often is more of an art than a science. People who can effectively identify and resolve issues are essential to any organization. Without them, organizations tend to flounder internally and substitute activity for progress.

Many college students today believe that they must choose specialized majors that will directly translate into a career after graduation, as opposed to studying liberal arts. My career history stands in counterpoint to that narrow view. In my experience, gaining management and leadership experience, while drawing on a foundation of a liberal arts curriculum, teaches you how to think critically and navigate effectively in a world that is becoming increasingly more complex and alienated. Much of my daily work involves vetting information from multiple domains and sharing that data with a diverse array of international stakeholders. While technology is a vital tool in this endeavor, effective communication, logic, and problem-solving skills are essential and at the forefront of what I do in support of NSPO and NATO. n