911 telecommunicators are the most selfless team of individuals you will NEVER know. They come to work every day. They are the calming voice of reason rendering aid to the caller in crisis. They are the watchdog looking over the flock of first responders. They support each other. And they are ready and waiting for the next emergency call, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year. Still, they are seldom seen.
Not being seen or acknowledged does not stop them from doing the job they love. They don’t do it for that reason. They do the job because it is in their blood. The need to help, to calm, to comfort, and to verbally hold the hand of a person in need is something innate to this special, skilled group of individuals we call 911 telecommunicators.
As a 911 center manager, I am very thankful for the wonderfully skilled group of telecommunicators I have on staff. They are a dedicated group of people who serve our citizens of Lycoming and Sullivan Counties well. They work as a team, no matter what shift they’re working on. They have been working a tremendous amount of overtime due to our center being short staffed, but they continue to move forward and nobody abuses call off time. Every single one of them shows their dedication to their career every day. I could not be more proud of each and every one of them.
For National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week our County Commissioners do a proclamation at their weekly meeting. In house we do a little something each day, for example giving out special gifts and food and snacks. This year we are giving out hats and challenge coins as gifts, and the other five days we’ll be sharing meals and treats, like pizza, chips and salsa, ice cream, candy bags, and even an Italian dinner.