When a child goes missing in Washington County, 911 operators are trained to react instantly.

“We ask questions based on whether a child is missing, abducted or has wandered off,” said Carla Holcroft, Washington County dispatch manager. “The first few minutes are the most critical.”

Holcroft said Washington County dispatchers recently became certified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The free, online course was developed and administered by the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program.

“It teaches us best practices for missing and exploited children,” Holcroft said.

Dispatch operators must ask about the time and circumstance of a child’s disappearance, description of the suspect and identification marks on the child, including scars and birthmarks.

The course is delivered through Fox Valley Technical College’s Blackboard Online Learning System.

It takes about five hours to complete and can be taken at any time of day.

Dispatchers in Springdale and Fayetteville are also certified.

Kristen Anderson, training and outreach coordinator for the center, said Benton County recently submitted its application for certification.

“We believe that every person who plays a role in a missing child incident can make a difference between a tragic outcome and a successful recovery,” Anderson said. “By the time the phone rings, the questions that dispatchers ask and the information they deliver to police will make a difference in officers’ response.”

Ronya Marveggio, telecommunications supervisor for the Bentonville Police Department, said her agency is close to certification.

“We’ve already had the training, we’re just waiting to get all the policies submitted and certified,” she said.

Dispatchers in Rogers haven’t received training through the center, but Keith Foster, the department’s spokesman, said plans are “in the works.”

“The people from the National Center are going to come here and give us training,” he said. “The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is spearheading that.”

Anderson said dispatch agencies can become certified online or face to face. Both types of training are free to participating agencies.

The hands-on training includes a two-day chief executive officer course and a one-day class for first responders and dispatchers.

Foster said 911 operators in Rogers ask the same questions as certified dispatchers when a child is reported missing.

“We have a flip chart book with questions to ask,” he said. “It was put out by the National Center. When we get a call, those questions pop up on the computer.”

Natisha Claypool, Fayetteville’s assistant dispatch manager, said the training makes dispatchers more accountable.

“We listen to every call we take for missing and exploited children,” she said. “It’s made the dispatchers better call takers because there are more specific questions that have to be asked.”

Claypool said that training was put to the test Dec. 5 when a child was taken from an apartment on West End Avenue in Fayetteville.

Melissa Wilson told police her neighbor, Kelly Jendeski, stole her car and took her 1-year-old son.

“Fortunately, the person brought the child back within 30 minutes,” Claypool said. “But because of the training we had already received, we were better prepared to respond and ask questions.”

Jendeski was charged in Washington County Circuit Court with first-degree false imprisonment. He pleaded not guilty Jan. 17 and is scheduled to go to trial March 12.

Fayetteville Police Sgt. Craig Stout said his department receives one or two reports of missing children each month.

“That doesn’t include runaways,” he said. “Very rarely do we have someone who is really missing. Those are very few and far between.”

Depending on the time of year, Holcroft said the Sheriff’s Office responds to at least five reports of missing children each month.

Most calls for missing children, she said, include those involved in custody battles or who’ve run away.

“We’re fortunate in this area that we haven’t had many child abductions,” she said.