Helping the helper: Ambulance dispatchers pitch in for one of their own

"We're organizing it to make sure she has all the help she needs for at least the next eight weeks."

When a 911 call comes into Ottawa’s Central Ambulance Communication Centre, the person needing help is usually just a nameless voice in a dispatcher’s headset.

This time, the person in need was someone who sits in a dispatcher’s seat herself.

Dominique Von Getz, 33, had surgery Thursday to treat a Stage 4 case of endometriosis, a painful and poorly understood disease in which cells lining the inside of the uterus begin to grow on the outside of it, too. In severe cases, like Von Getz’s, the tissue can cover the reproductive system with growths and cysts and spread to other organs in the abdomen. There is no cure.

Von Getz immigrated to Canada several years ago and found work as a dispatcher with Ottawa Paramedic Service. Her mother died when she was young and she has no family.

She does, however, have CACC colleagues who have stepped up to help Von Getz in her time of need.

“Your work family becomes your surrogate family, especially when you’re here for a 12-hour shift,” said Stephanie Desrochers, who teamed up with Von Getz’s supervisor, Lindsey Roos, to fundraise and organize for her care.

“Her closest friends were left behind (in France). She has some friends in other provinces, but for the most part she has us … and her cat,” Desrochers said.

“Dominique had a very hard time even asking for help,” she said. “It’s against our character to ask for help. She spends her days helping others. Now our CACC family wants to help her.”

The group has drawn on a fund used to assist dispatchers needing financial help, are hosting bake sales to raise money, and Roos has organized a raffle. Volunteers from the dispatch centre have pitched in, too, driving Von Getz to and from the hospital, acting as her emergency contact and chipping in around her home. There’s a “meal train” to deliver food and volunteers to clean and lift heavy items like cat litter. The group has arranged for at least one colleague to visit Von Getz every day.

“I’m actually having to slow my colleagues down,” Desrochers said. “My entire platoon would be at her house right now if I let them. We’re organizing it to make sure she has all the help she needs for at least the next eight weeks.”

Von Getz was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2019 after an ultrasound revealed masses growing on her ovaries. Her condition worsened in 2020 and she had laparoscopic surgery to remove the tissue. Medications couldn’t control her condition, which worsened this year. Another laparoscopic scan revealed masses on her colon, right up to her diaphragm. The only treatment is a radical hysterectomy.

Despite debilitating pain, Von Getz worked her night shift in the dispatch centre until last week. The hospital gave her 16 days notice of Thursday’s life-altering surgery.

The money raised will be used to support Von Getz on her road to recovery, including psychological support, physiotherapy, bills and to help pay her bills and rent as she copes with lost wages and the uncertainty of insurance coverage.

You can contribute to the fund for Dominique Von Getz through GoFundMe.