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SANTA MARA, Calif. — Public safety agencies across the country are taking time this week to honor dispatcher workers during National Public Safety Communications Week, which runs from April 10-16.

“Our public safety dispatchers and call takers are an extraordinary group of women and men who answer calls for help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said in a statement. “Answering calls for help from members of the public and dispatching cops, paramedics and firefighters to law enforcement, medical and fire emergencies, many of which are interconnected, requires great levels of dedication to duty, coolness under extreme conditions, technical skills, an outstanding ability to communicate, and large doses of tact, patience, common sense and empathy for the plight of others…