The term first responder conjures up images of lights, sirens, speeding law enforcement and/or emergency vehicles racing to a scene to save people from any and all harm. While this is not necessarily incorrect, it skips over an extraordinarily important link in the chain of events. In fact, it completely bypasses the start line. These men and women in uniform get to where they need to be because someone called 9-1-1. When that person called 9-1-1 a dispatcher answered the phone and asked them where they were, what was wrong, and essentially “how can I help?”
January’s Serve and Protect features Supervisor Training Sergeant Devan Breland with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office. Mrs. Breland is that voice on the other end of the line. She and her fellow dispatchers are literally the first to respond to an emergency in Colleton County.
Breland was born in Norfolk, VA and grew up in a military family traveling all over the world. Her interest in all things law enforcement came from watching her father who was a dispatcher in Rota, Spain, a Naval Investigator, and ended his career in the security field. Mrs. Breland’s father retired from military service in Goose Creek when she was 15. Devan then moved to Colleton County in January of 2011 and comments that the Lowcountry is the only place she’s lived that felt like home. While her father served in the military, Devan’s mother worked as an EMT. Law enforcement and emergency services have been an important part of Breland’s life. Originally attending EMT school following in her mother’s footsteps, her focus shifted after she had her daughter and she chose a different career path in childcare. It was while working in childcare she met Captain Angela Stallings. Captain Stallings was persistent in her recruitment and eventually Breland made the leap from childcare to dispatcher with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office in October of 2016. The shifts can be long (12 hours) and they rotate. The calls can be rough, and some days are harder to shake off than others, but she cannot imagine doing anything else.
When asked what she enjoys the most about the job, Breland smiles and comments that it sounds so cliché, but she likes the helping aspect of her job the most. When people call 9-1-1 and Breland answers that call she does everything she can to help that person on what can possibly be the worst day of their lives. She gives everything she can to the person on the other line and leaves work after each shift knowing she did all she could to give the caller the help they needed.
Outside the dispatch center, Devan is married to her husband Daniel and they have a 13-year-old daughter Hunter. Also, sharing the household is a Black English Labrador named Wigeon. She also enjoys deer hunting, boating, traveling, and crafting.
Thank you, Supervisor Training Sergeant Devan Breland, for everything you do to keep our community safe!
