240 million—that’s approximately how many calls are made to 9-1-1 in the U.S. each year*, and the total keeps growing.
Given that there are only 5,748 primary and secondary Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) nationwide, that’s a lot of calls for the human operators to handle.
During the week of April 13 through April 19, Deschutes County will be celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (NPSTW) to raise awareness of the invaluable work done by Deschutes 9-1-1, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We seem to always focus on those resources that respond to the scene with the lights and sirens, but we often forget about the Dispatchers who are the first ones to get the call and often try to make sense out of frantic voices on the other end of the line. Without the skills of the Public Safety Telecommunicator, none of the subsequent efforts would be possible.
If you know any of these individuals or Telecommunicators from another agency, reach out to them and tell them how much you appreciate the work they do. The services we provide to the citizens of Waushara County could not be provided without these hardworking individuals.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill that makes the state’s telecommunications technology part of its critical infrastructure.
