Baca County Honors 911 Dispatchers as “First First Responders” During National Telecommunicators Week

Description: Baca County recognizes 911 dispatchers during National Telecommunicators Week, highlighting their critical role in emergency response and public safety.


Published: 5 hours ago
Byline: SECO News

April 12TH -18TH is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
 
What that means is that it is a designated week to acknowledge and celebrate the people who staff Public Safety Answering Points (911 call answering locations) and dispatch centers across the country.
 
The people picking up those calls are the first link in the chain of First Response nation wide, with the entire system being built on what they do every day. This week is to acknowledge and celebrate the people who hold up the functionality of first response in ways that many people do not think about, or even realize.
 
As a dispatcher of 12 years myself, I feel strongly about the importance of what we do and the recognition of extremely important contributions that all too often go unremarked upon. Dispatchers are the reason that a person can confidently call 911 and know that someone will answer and get them the help that they need in an emergency. It is a job requiring that you ask the right questions, take in a lot of information often from many different sources at the same time, distill all of that information, and pass it along clearly to others who may or may not be paying attention or able to hear you. It requires that you keep track of people, units, and positions at least in a general sense, and take responsibility for the safety of the public, first responders, and officers each and every day regardless of whether or not there is an active emergency.
 
Dispatchers in our county work 12 hour shifts in a small room with no outside windows, sitting at a station with a plethora of monitors, programs, and tools, not knowing if the next call will be about a dog at large or a heart attack, and no matter what call comes in they handle it with the tools that they have. They listen to every traumatic moment that happens on their shift, and help as best they can- mostly using only their voice. In a small community like ours, each dispatcher will inevitably take emergency calls directly impacting people that they know and care about – and with one dispatcher on at a time they can’t hand those difficult calls off to someone else, most times. We also develop individual friendships with the officers, deputies, and other first responders that we work with, and have to send them into dangerous and stressful situations. Our dispatchers eat at the desk and frequently have their meals interrupted by something happening that they have to handle. I personally am convinced that there is an invisible sign on the roof of the Sheriff’s Office that turns on when I am ready to eat and tells people to call in their emergencies and officers to initiate traffic stops the moment I try.
 
Our dispatchers also assist in the day to day operations of our Sheriff’s Office and Jail, whether they’re proofreading paperwork or covering Jail duties when needed, that “other duties as assigned” situation gets pretty broad.
Our dispatchers each have their own strengths and preferences, but they all end up wearing many hats to accomplish what needs done. Some prefer night shifts, some days, some like it when things are less hectic so that they can chat with the people they interact with, and others (I’m looking at you, Randi) like to say words that the superstitious in the first responder community (and healthcare) would call “bad words” just to see what happens.
 
The one thing that is consistent across the board is our dispatchers’ willingness to step up and help. Help our community, and help each other. From volunteering to staying late or coming in on days off to assist with large and hectic incidents, to covering shifts when our staffing is short and someone is sick or otherwise needs a day off, our dispatchers show up for it.
 
I, for one, am proud of that and of them, and would like to give my sincere thanks and appreciation to each and every dispatcher specifically here in Baca County, in all of the agencies that we work in contact with frequently, and across the US.
 
- Dawn Keenan, Head Dispatcher, Baca County Sheriff's Office


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