(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The El Paso-Teller County 9-1-1 Authority Board of Directors recognized a dispatcher for her work during the Mollie Kathleen Mine incident in October.
Dixieanna Giadonne received a call on Oct. 10 at around 12:09 p.m., from a distraught person describing an accident at the Mollie Kathleen Mine in Cripple Creek involving the elevator. The caller told Giadonne that the elevator had malfunctioned, and resulted in a death.
Giadonne’s floor supervisor, Rylee Sherraden, said Giadonne kept a calm demeanor when speaking to “an extremely emotional caller” while collecting the information needed for a proper response.
“In total, Dixieanna took the lead for this incident which impacted our Emergency Center with more than 50 administrative calls as well as 25 calls from media requesting information in addition to the original 911 call,” Sherraden wrote. “Throughout the incident, Dixieanna remained calm, focused, and completed all tasks successfully.”
On Wednesday, Jan. 23, Giadonne was recognized as the Telecommunicator of the Fourth Quarter of 2024 for her professionalism and actions during the incident.
Along with her partner, Giadonne also coordinated a response of 13 law units, 13 fire and medical units, and additional resources from the Newmont Gold Mine, the State of Colorado, and OSHA. According to her supervisor, Giadonne spent five hours coordinating all necessary resources, while continuing to assist other calls that involved a wildland fire, and unconscious/fainting at an elementary school.
