RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – The City of Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover Counties all say they are in need of 911 operators.
“This is a way if you don’t want to be on the frontlines to really be that first, first responder,” said Rebekah Taylor, Henrico Police Communications.
Currently, the Richmond Department of Emergency Communications is short 22 dispatchers or 1/3 of the staffing it needs to answer your emergency calls…
From last November through this month, hundreds of calls were made to Saskatchewan’s 911 dispatch centre, all made from an unregistered cell phone. RCMP say the caller didn’t identify themselves, nor did they indicate any emergency. A news release from the Saskatchewan RCMP says 911 dispatchers and police treat all calls seriously and have to ensure there is no emergency at the other end of the line, even if no one speaks during the call or hangs up. Officers repeatedly check the area where the calls were being place, but couldn’t find evidence of any emergency…
To the Editor:
Can we take a minute to talk about some of our most unsung heroes in our county? I’m referring to our dispatchers, the people who answer our calls when we are having an emergency.
It’s important for our citizens to know how often these people are forgotten as some of our most important heroes in our community. When we call them, it doesn’t matter which town we are from, whether we are in the city or the county. What matters to them is getting us the help we need, as quickly and efficiently as they can. They are our fist line of defense in every situation that comes to them. They have to make the decision of who needs to be notified and sent our way. They have to know what to tell us to do in any emergency that we call them with, how to administer first aid, how to perform CPR, the safest measures to take when there’s been an accident, etc. They must keep us as calm as possible, often in situations that seem like the worst moments of our lives…
“I was a trainer, and I always told my trainees the calls aren’t personal, they don’t affect you,” she said. “Yes, you’re empathetic, but at the end of the day that was their fight. That was their car accident. It didn’t affect me personally. Well, then it did.”
Each day, a legion of dispatchers like Woodall man the radios at 911 communications centers across metro Atlanta and expose themselves to a constant barrage of interactions that can be both tragic and devastating. They answer calls from people in crisis and dispatch aid, serving as a bridge of intervention…
Understanding how EMS works in Dinosaur — and what that unique community needs — is an essential part of the conversation to determine the future of EMS. But it is definitely a complex piece of the overall puzzle.
One issue that increases the response times, explained Max Becker from the Dinosaur Marshal’s Office — who is also Nichole’s husband — is that when someone in Dinosaur calls 9-1-1, it can either be routed to Rio Blanco, Moffat County or Vernal’s dispatch, depending on which cell tower the call goes through. Landlines will automatically go to Moffat County dispatch, who will then need to contact Vernal dispatch in order to send an ambulance…
The $2.09 surcharge per communication service providers for Mason-Oceana County Dispatch Center 9-1-1 services was renewed by the Oceana County Board of Commissioners March 10.
The surcharge applies to all communication devices capable of calling 9-1-1. It was first approved in February 2002. It is estimated to generate $160,000 collected between July 1 and June 30 of each year… READ MORE
