NATCHEZ — While residents were firing up the grill and lounging by the lake, Artimese Green Evans was sitting by the phone keeping Adams County safe.

Monday was both Labor Day and a day of labor for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher, who started her day at 5:30 a.m. answering phone calls and directing on-duty deputies.

Evans worked until 5:30 p.m. Monday answering three phone lines, the county’s 911 phone and working on four computers at the same time — all of this on a day when most people were celebrating the unofficial end of summer.

Evans doesn’t mind. In fact, she prefers working when she knows she is helping keep the county safe.

“When I was (working for the fire department) I went 10 straight years without a Christmas off,” Evans said.

Before working for the sheriff’s office, Evans also worked as a dispatcher for the Natchez Fire Department and the city police department. In all, she has put in 31 years.

“I have been dispatching all my life, “ Evans said.

“Most people believe (the dispatcher) is just sitting here answering the phone,” Evans said. “But it is not that way.”

Answering the phone is just the beginning. Dispatchers collect information, coordinate deputies on duty, keep track of multiple calls at the same time all the while keeping sometime hysterical callers as calm as possible without jeopardizing the safety of everyone involved.

“It is the heartbeat of the sheriff’s office,” Sheriff Chuck Mayfield said. “All of our dispatchers are dedicated to public service.

“It is not for someone who just wants a 9-to-5 jobs.”

Evans agrees.

“We are the first responders,” Evans said about all of the office’s dispatchers. “We are the first contact for most people. You have to be able to stay calm and realize that you are responsible for the people on the phone, but first and foremost to the deputies.”

That is the key to being a dedicated dispatcher, Mayfield said.

“You have to keep your cool when the person on the other end of the line is hysterical,” Mayfield said.

“You have to have a calming voice to get the information as fast as possible because you have officers’ lives in your hands.”

Recently, Evans was recognized by her colleagues for keeping her cool and helping keep both the deputies and victims safe during an incident involving a car chase, guns and victims who were in immediate danger.

“It was a stressful, dangerous situation,” Mayfield said.

Thanks to her ability to keep cool, stay on the phone with the victims and relay information to deputies, Evans was able to help diffuse a situation that could have ended tragically.

“Her officers were pleased with how she handled the situation,” Mayfield said. “She really took care of them.”

Even though Evans knows to expect more calls on a holiday than any other regular workday, most days she feels confident that she’s helping protect and serve residents.

“I get a sense of satisfaction that makes me proud when I am helping people,” Evans said. “I really feel like I am fulfilling a service.”