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CHICOPEE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – When calling 911, a dispatcher is the first one to answer your call and they are a critical lifeline for many. Western Mass News recently learned that there is a dispatcher shortage locally with one dispatch center in Chicopee is four dispatchers away from potentially having a delay in emergency response.
[Reporter: Are you really able to manage?]
“We are managing right now. If we were to get any lower, we would be struggling. We’d have to consider shortening our minimum staffing,” said Erin Hastings, executive director of WestComm.
Right now, WestComm is short six dispatchers with 30 currently on staff. This is the biggest shortage Hastings has seen in her 30-year career…
