Telecommunicators are often overlooked in emergency services. Very few people seek out jobs as a 911 dispatcher/call taker, but instead think of becoming police, fire personnel and medics.
Ironically though, the 911 call taker is the first person reached when someone is experiencing an emergency. The call take ascertains what’s happening, and what’s needed, while helping the caller in the situation and ensuring that responders are dispatched.
These calls can be stressful for both the caller and the call taker, as the situation is new and oftentimes the caller is angry, hysterical or does not know what they need. Our call takers are trained to turn that chaos into calm, and help the caller while help is on the way. This may require the call taker to follow medical protocols and give lifesaving instructions to an untrained caller.
At our agency, we are making National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week a celebration of each of our employees, who are all “stars” and will all receive “Grammy-like” awards! Our agency will also be providing a surprise gift to our employees.
The “Employee Fulfillment Team” (aka fun committee) has been hard at work to provide gifts, raffles with prizes, and fun for our employees for the entire week.
Even though most telecommunicators, don’t like to be the center of attention and stay in the background of emergency services, we all like to be acknowledged for the hard work we do. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is all about acknowledging the important work that 911 call takers do all year long, even though they would be the first to say, “I was just doing my job.”