When Elmhurst residents dial 911, their calls route to DU-COMM dispatchers who field about one million phone calls a year. Those dispatchers could soon receive structured mental health training under a $50,000 contract the DuPage County Emergency Telephone System Board recommended for approval at its Wednesday, June 10, meeting.

The two-year contract with Lilly Counseling and Consultation would fund training courses at DU-COMM and the Addison Consolidated Dispatch Center from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028. The ETSB agenda listed the item as a recommendation for approval; official meeting minutes confirming the vote have not yet been posted.

DU-COMM dispatches police, fire, and EMS for 45 member agencies, including the Elmhurst Police Department and Elmhurst Fire Department. Those million annual phone calls generate roughly 700,000 dispatch incidents. Elmhurst Mayor Scott Levin chairs the DU-COMM Executive Committee. The center employs about 127 full-time staff.

Lilly Counseling is led by Dr. Michelle Lilly, a licensed clinical psychologist whose 2012 study in the Journal of Traumatic Stress examined PTSD rates among 911 dispatchers. Her research found those rates range from 18% to 24%.

"The most commonly reported symptom by telecommunicators was hypervigilance: feeling keyed up or agitated, feeling on edge, trouble concentrating and sleeping," Dr. Lilly said in an interview published in the IAED Journal. "Some of that is related to the job."

The firm's course catalog includes "Protect 9-1-1," a program for telecommunicators covering PTSD, resilience, and stress management. The ETSB agenda did not specify which courses the contract covers.

The contract was classified as professional services exempt from competitive bidding under Illinois statute. ETSB Chair Greg Schwarze, a DuPage County Board District 6 member, was scheduled to preside over the June 10 meeting.

ACDC, the second dispatch center named in the contract, serves nine police departments and seven fire agencies in the Addison area. It does not directly dispatch for Elmhurst.

The ETSB's next meeting is Wednesday, July 8, at 9 a.m. at the DuPage County Administration Building in Wheaton.