Honoring 9-1-1 Professionals
What do you do when you have an emergency? If you come home and find your windows broken and your front door hanging open? If you notice smoke pouring out of your neighbors house? If you witness an auto accident? Or someone ahead of you in line at the grocery store drops to the floor? The simple answer is: 9-1-1—the national, emergency number in use since 1968. Thanks in part to the popular television show of the 1980s titled Emergency 9-1-1, most Americans are familiar with this one number to call for all emergency services.
What happens when you call 9-1-1? You will speak with an emergency services professional, also known as a 9-1-1 dispatcher or emergency telecommunicator. Depending upon the situation you are facing, you may talk with several different people. Typically you will speak with a local police department first to determine exactly what is going on; you may then talk to someone more specialized in fire or medical response to help keep you and others safe until help arrives. It is the dedication of these professionals that makes the difference in millions of lives every year. So, take a minute and think about these people whose faces you may never see, but whose voices you may never forget.
National Telecommunicators Week is celebrated every year during the second week of April. This week has been recognized since the early 1980s; however, the first Congressional-Presidential action was in 1992 when President George Bush signed a proclamation. According to the 1992 proclamation, there were over 500,000 public safety telecommunicators consisting of dispatchers and support personnel.
National Telecommunicators Week 2007 is from Sunday, April 8 through Saturday, April 14.
On Sunday, April 15, 2007 the Eighth Annual 9-1-1 Dispatchers Award Banquet will be held in Jefferson County to honor area 9-1-1 professionals. A committee of 9-1-1 telecommunication specialists representing all agencies in Jefferson County has organized this event every year since 1999 to honor their peers during National Telecommunicators Week. The Banquet is funded through donations from various vendors and community businesses. Following dinner is an awards presentation. This year, the AFPD is presenting awards to Judy Schneider and Jill O’Brian for controlled chaos during the labor intensive Plainview Wildland Fire on January 10th and 11th, 2006.