Our own people who rely on us in the most critical of moments, believing we are not first responders, adds yet another weight onto our already overloaded shoulders
What is a true first responder? Many would say it only encompasses exactly what is in the phrase “first responder.” Someone who shows up first on scene to an emergency. This is a very narrow definition and one that has kept dispatchers from being recognized as true first responders not only federally, but at state levels and sometimes even within their own agencies.