San Bernardino 911 dispatcher invited to State of the Union address

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- A local 911 dispatcher is being credited for being the calm voice heard on the day of the San Bernardino terror shootings.

In an emergency, Annie Teall is often the one answering the call as a dispatcher for the San Bernardino Police Department.

On Dec. 2, it was her voice that directed the response to the deadly terror attack at the Inland Regional Center.

"It started out as a high stress incident we are all accustom to," she said.

Teall is credited with remaining calm during the crisis, but she said it is her team that deserves the recognition as well.

"They really had a very big part in the whole thing," she added. "I happen to be the voice, but they were the work behind it all."

On Monday, Teall will head to Washington D.C., where she will attend President Obama's final State of the Union address as Congresswoman Norma Torres' guest.

The congresswoman, a former dispatcher herself, invited Teall after touring the dispatch center.

"It's an opportunity that very few people get and it's an honor," said Teall.

It's a trip of a life time she won't be taking alone.

"Congressman Aguilar reached out after the incident and invited myself and Sheriff McMahon to come back to Washington to be his guest at the State of the Union. You certainly don't turn down an opportunity like that," said San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan.

The attack at the IRC left 14 people dead and an entire nation on edge.

Burguan and McMahon will attend a series of meetings while in DC to discuss the incident.

"A lot of it is to discuss not necessarily the response itself but the financial component to it," Burguan said. "There is an opportunity for reimbursement for our direct cost involved."

While Burguan and McMahon attend to meeting in our nation's capital, Teall said she plans on taking in a few sights.