Ashton Orchard’s mother says she wondered whether her daughter would succeed as an emergency dispatcher.

“I’ll be honest, I did not think she was going to be able to do it,” Lesha Spencer said. “She always wore her feelings on the surface of her skin. We always used to think, ‘If the wind blows, Ashton cries.'”

Orchard said she had her own doubts. “I was kind of nervous to be doing it,” she said. “But it becomes a little bit easier.”

The concerns of mother and daughter seemed to have been unfounded. Orchard on Wednesday was named Utah emergency dispatcher of the year.

The Utah Bureau of Emergency Medical Services presented annual first responder and dispatcher awards in Draper, honoring recipients for dedicating their lives to helping others during emergencies. The bureau collects nominations for workers “whose accomplishments stand out as going above and beyond the call of duty,” the agency’s announcement said.

Orchard, 27, an Ogden native who graduated from Weber High School and now lives in Brigham City, has been a dispatcher for three years at the Weber Area Dispatch 911 and Emergency Services District.

She credits her mother for raising her well as a single parent. Spencer said she was 17 when Ashton was born.

“Our whole family is just super proud of her,” Spencer said. “She has always been that kid who did what she was told to do and what she was supposed to do, and sometimes I thought maybe I did that to a fault.”

But now, Spencer said, “That’s not who I have. Boy, she sure has changed.” Her daughter is assertive and works hard.

Spencer said a friend told her she got a background check call when Orchard applied for the dispatcher job. The friend burst out laughing when the screener asked if Orchard was dependable. That’s one of her strongest points, Spencer said Wednesday afternooon.

At the Weber dispatch center in Ogden, all dispatchers are cross-trained so everyone can take emergency calls, dispatch fire and police, and be able to help one another in complex, fast-moving situations.

The public has had a glimpse of that on the ABC reality TV show “Emergency,” where the Weber team, sometimes including Orchard, has been featured several times.

“You get close because it is a hard job,” Orchard said. “You need to rely on the people you work with, with the difficult calls we have to take.”

A dispatcher handles so many calls, sometimes 30 or 40 in a shift, that it’s hard to point out some that are more memorable than others, Orchard said. “But it is always rewarding to have someone call in saying their loved one is not breathing and you walk them through CPR and it ends up making a difference,” she said.

Tina Mathieu, the dispatch district’s executive director, said Orchard was promoted to Dispatcher II, which includes the responsibility of training others.

“Ashton has just been a fantastic employee,” Mathieu said. “She does a phenomenal job and is always one step ahead of what’s needing to be done.”

Mathieu added, “She’s also pleasant and has a great positive attitude, which is important with the work we do.”

Orchard said it’s vital for a dispatcher to have hobbies and outside pursuits. Hers include “hanging out with family” and reading.

She said her fiancé, Ogden City forestry employee Reuben Robinson, is supportive of her career and, “when I’ve had a hard day he’s there when I need him to be.”

She said her mom, “has always been a really big role model for me. She had stuff that maybe she didn’t get an opportunity to do, but she made sure I always had an opportunity to do stuff I enjoyed, like sports.”

Orchard said she always wanted to be a police officer and did an internship with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office. She became intrigued by the dispatch work, so when there was an opening she decided to apply.

“I’m passionate about it and it’s extremely rewarding,” she said. “It validates that I’m doing what I need to be doing.”

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