Ascension Parish dispatcher honored; maintains composure during floods, triple shooting – The Advocate

An Ascension Parish sheriff's deputy and 911 dispatcher who continued to handle emergency calls in August knowing her own home was flooding has been honored by the Louisiana chapters of two national organizations, Sheriff Jeff Wiley said Thursday.

Deputy Erica Michel received the Telecommunicator of the Year Award this week from the state chapters of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials and the National Emergency Number Association, Wiley said in a news release.

Michel, who had also lost a home to Hurricane Katrina, Wiley said, was working in the Sheriff's Office 911 communications center in Gonzales when the catastrophic flood hit in August.

"Even as she realized her own home was quickly being overtaken by flood waters, she was able to maintain her professionalism and composure, while continuing to answer the non-stop radio traffic and the relentless flow of 911 calls from scared citizens," Wiley said.

Among the calls Michel took, Wiley said, was one from a man who heard a gunshot at his neighbor's house. With Michel still on the phone with him, the caller learned that his neighbor had shot himself, after apparently committing a double murder, Wiley said.

The condition of the roads because of the flooding made it difficult for deputies and other first responders to reach the house, Wiley said.

"Deputy Michel was unwavering and maintained contact with the caller, keeping him focused until help arrived at the scene," the sheriff said.

The caller's neighbor was Shawn Millet, 37, of Prairieville, who on Aug. 14, fatally shot Lacey Leblanc, 31, and her 8-year-old daughter at his home, before turning the gun on himself, according to the Sheriff's Office. Millet later died at an area hospital.

Michel has been a member of the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office 911 communications team for almost three years. Michel, who is certified in CPR, is also a certified emergency medical dispatcher and, last year, became certified as a communications training officer with the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials.

Michel, whose husband, Thomas Michel, is also an Ascension Parish sheriff's deputy, received the award Monday at the annual conference, held in Bossier City, of the Louisiana chapters of the two national organizations for emergency dispatchers.

Michel said Friday that her family's home, built not far from Bayou Manchac in Ascension Parish, received more than 2 feet of water in the August flood, despite already being elevated 9 feet.

She said she and her husband, Thomas, following the predictions of the bayou's rise, knew early on that they would have to boat in to their home, if nothing else, so they brought their two sons, ages 15 and 8, to her parents' home in New Orleans before their Bayou Manchac home flooded.

The crisis was something the couple had seen before. They were living in New Orleans when their previous home flooded during Hurricane Katrina. Their oldest son was just 4 when that happened, Erica Michel said.

It appears the family's present home will have to be elevated further, and the Michel family is living in a recreational vehicle on their property, she said.

Of her work as a 911 dispatcher and, particularly, on the call that came in that August weekend from the caller whose neighbor had killed two others and then himself, Michel said, "I guess, because I'm dealing with someone else's worst day, I try to take myself out of the equation."

"This is their worst moment. I can't make it my worse call," she said.

"To be singled out for that honor is extremely humbling," Michel said of the award she received this week.

"I work in a center with wonderful dispatchers, who any one of them deserve that award," she said, adding that applies to her colleagues everywhere.

"I think she's the personification of so many of our first responders who are selfless and came and served, even though they had such dire circumstances at home" during and after the flood, Sheriff Wiley said Friday

"We're very proud of her and many others like her," Wiley said.

Follow Ellyn Couvillion on Twitter, @EllynCouvillion.

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Ascension Parish dispatcher honored; maintains composure during floods, triple shooting - The Advocate