Don’t forget to thank your favorite Public Safety Telecommunicator [Dispatcher] who deserve to know how much they are appreciated and probably don’t hear it often enough.

This is how it all started with the origin of National Telecommunications Week:

In response to a question from California dispatcher Linda Olmstead, Alan Burton recalled his career at the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department, and how National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week began. Here’s his letter to Linda:

February 7, 1997

It was started as National Dispatchers Week.

When APCO got done with it (and bless their hearts for pushing it through when no one else would), it came out as National Telecommunications Week (to honor ALL the people involved, not just dispatchers — and I’m quoting Ronnie Rand who told me that personally), and IDW, International Dispatchers Week, as created by Dispatch Monthly, to recognize dispatchers and controllers worldwide.

It was created, to the best of our assembled recollections, in 1980. The date is less clear than the circumstances. Setting the scene: Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Dispatch (then known as “Comm 7” — on the 7th floor of the county admin building) shared the floor with Sheriff’s administration. During National Secretaries (sic?) Day, the sheriff’s brass took ALL the secretaries out to (a long) lunch, treated them to flowers and attention. But the worst part was when they all went to lunch, all the divisional secretaries programmed their phones to ring in the comm center. (At the time, CCCSO had a staff of about 700-800; had a LOT of secretaries; and the transferred phone load was substantial.) Enter Patricia Anderson (“just a dispatcher”) who (correctly) felt victimized by the situation, and while the secretaries were out being wined and dined that day in 1980, she stood up in the comm center and declared that the second week of April in every year hence would be known as National Dispatchers Week.

For the first several years, the only people in the world who celebrated NDW were the CCCSO dispatchers, but they did it well. The brass participated, they furnished a grand sheet cake, the place was decorated, the news media received press releases, there was attention given as appropriate. Not big; not little. Then other PD’s in the area began to join in. APCO said they weren’t interested. But a group of dispatchers from North Carolina thought it was worthwhile, and they put a resolution on an APCO ballot, and National APCO was committed.

It took many years of hard work, and APCO (bless their hearts) beat up a lot of congresspeople trying to get a resolution through Congress. First efforts were not successful; later ones finally were. A lot of dispatchers in the US thought the idea was silly (still do) and just didn’t buy into the concept. The brass, as a rule, couldn’t care less. So it was a very large struggle.

Strangely, it was not necessary to go through Congress to have the week designated. Many “weeks” are “official” but do not have the approval of Congress. But the fact is, Congress did bless the week three times, resulting in Presidents Bush and Clinton resolving appropriately the same number, and by the rules established, the Congress says the week is now official and don’t ever come back and haunt us again.

For the record, the first Congressional-Presidential action was in 1992, and designated it as “National Telecommunications Week” — which APCO said was deliberate. The 1992 proclamation also noted that there are over 500,000 public safety telecommunicators, which APCO (who provided the source information for the proclamation) has now said refers to the number of people associated with and supporting public safety TCs. Actually there are only about 75,000 dispatchers; 425,000 support personnel is a lot, eh?

The Important and Noteworthy Proclamation: 

NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS WEEK
(House of Representatives – October 09, 1991)

 [Page: H7695]

* Mr. SAWYER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service be discharged from further consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 284) to designate the second week in April as `National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week ,’ and ask for its immediate consideration.

* The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.

* The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Ohio?

* There was no objection.

* Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, every day, in all of our communities, dedicated public safety telecommunicators answer our calls for assistance. They dispatch our calls for help to local police and fire departments, facilitating the execution of emergency rescue and law-enforcement operations in all of our districts. These public safety personnel serve as the vital links within our cities and towns, although rarely appreciated because they are not physically at the scene.

* The Nation’s public safety telecommunicators also work to improve emergency response capabilities through their leadership in training programs provided by the Associated Public-Safety Communications Officers. APCO is an association of nearly 9,000 people engaged in the operation, design, and installation of emergency response communications systems for Federal, State and local government agencies.

* It is time that we show our appreciation for these people who make our Nation’s police and fire departments professional and responsive. In order to recognize the high-quality communications services provided by police and fire dispatchers, 911 operators, and emergency medical technicians, I have sponsored House Joint Resolution 284, to designate the week beginning April 12, 1992, as `National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week .’

* Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella] for her assistance in bringing this resolution to the floor today. She and her staff have worked diligently and with great distinction. I also want to thank my colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania and chairman of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus [Mr. Weldon], for his leadership and support.

[Page: H7696]

* Mrs. Morella. Mr. Speaker, as the Republican sponsor of House Joint Resolution 284, and as a member of the Congressional Fire Services caucus, it is my pleasure to rise in support of this legislation to designate the second week of April, 1992, as `National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week .’

* Public safety telecommunicators are the driving force behind our Nation’s emergency rescue services. They are the men and women who dispatch our police forces, our ambulances, our firefighters. Although they are not as visible as the men and women who arrive at the scene of emergencies, they are just as important.

* We depend upon public safety telecommunicators to notify emergency personnel promptly, clearly, and calmly. We depend upon them to keep our husbands, our wives, and our children calm and assured in an emergency. We depend upon them for guidance and support in our most frantic and panicked moments.

* Mr. Speaker, some of us have been lucky enough not to have had to dial 911 in the middle of a fire, a robbery, or a medical emergency. But for the millions of Americans who have faced such an emergency, public safety telecommunicators have been there–ready and willing to help. It is, indeed, fitting that we take time to recognize their invaluable contribution to our daily lives, and I am very pleased to support the designation of the second week of April, 1992, as `National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week .’

The Clerk read the joint resolution, as follows:

H.J. Res. 284

Whereas over one-half million dedicated men and women are engaged in the operation of emergency response systems for Federal, State, and local governmental entities throughout the United States;

Whereas these individuals are responsible for responding to the telephone calls of the general public for police, fire, and emergency medical assistance and for dispatching said assistance to help save the lives and property of our citizens;

Whereas such calls include not only policy, fire, and emergency medical service calls but those governmental communications related to forestry and conservation operations, highway safety and maintenance activities, and all of the other operations which the modern governmental agency must conduct; and

Whereas America’s public safety telecommunicators daily serve the public in countless ways without due recognition by the beneficiaries of their services: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the second week in April is hereby designated as `National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week’ . The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe that week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE OFFERED BY MR. SAWYER

Mr. SAWYER. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment in the nature of a substitute.

The Clerk read as follows:

Amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Mr. Sawyer: Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the following:

That the week beginning April 12, 1992, is designated as `National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week’ , and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe the week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Sawyer].

The amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.

The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read the third time, and passed.

TITLE AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. SAWYER

Mr. SAWYER. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment to the title.

The Clerk read as follows:

Title amendment offered by Mr. Sawyer: Amend the title so as to read: `To designate the week beginning April 12, 1992, as `National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week’ .’.

The title amendment was agreed to.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

[from the Congressional Record]

Patricia Anderson is now retired and enjoying life. My claim to fame is that I hired her, trained her, and personally gave her a copy of the first proclamation signed by President Bush. What she did wasn’t much. Just an idea born in a moment of pique. But it was like a pin dropping, that was heard around the world.

Alan Burton

 Dispatchers are amazing people who have to endure the every day challenges of dealing with other people’s drama and craziness.  There are times when those call out for real emergencies and dispatchers take their calls 24/7/365. 

We commend you for what you do and stay calm throughout the whole situation.  Here is a special Tribute to you all.

A Tribute To Dispatchers

By Chief Thomas Wagoner
Loveland (Colo.) Police Department

Someone once asked me if I thought that answering telephones for a living was a profession. I said, “I thought it was a calling.”

And so is dispatching. I have found in my law enforcement career that dispatchers are the unsung heroes of public safety. They miss the excitement of riding in a speeding car with lights flashing and sirens wailing. They can only hear of the bright orange flames leaping from a burning building. They do not get to see the joy on the face of worried parents as they see their child begin breathing on its own, after it has been given CPR.

Dispatchers sit in darkened rooms looking at computer screens and talking to voices from faces they never see. It’s like reading a lot of books, but only half of each one.

Dispatchers connect the anxious conversations of terrified victims, angry informants, suicidal citizens and grouchy officers. They are the calming influence of all of them-the quiet, competent voices in the night that provide the pillars for the bridges of sanity and safety. They are expected to gather information from highly agitated people who can’t remember where they live, what their name is, or what they just saw. And then, they are to calmly provide all that information to the officers, firefighters, or paramedics without error the first time and every time.

Dispatchers are expected to be able to do five things at once-and do them well. While questioning a frantic caller, they must type the information into a computer, tip off another dispatcher, put another caller on hold, and listen to an officer run a plate for a parking problem. To miss the plate numbers is to raise the officer’s ire; to miss the caller’s information may be to endanger the same officer’s life. But, the officer will never understand that.

Dispatchers have two constant companions, other dispatchers and stress. They depend on one, and try to ignore the other. they are chastened by upset callers, taken for granted by the public, and criticized by the officers. The rewards they get are inexpensive and infrequent, except for the satisfaction they feel at the end of a shift, having done what they were expected to do.

Dispatchers come in all shapes and sizes, all races, both sexes, and all ages. They are blondes, and brunettes, and redheads. They are quiet and outgoing, single, or married, plain, beautiful, or handsome. No two are alike, yet they are all the same.

They are people who were selected in a difficult hiring process to do an impossible job. They are as different as snowflakes, but they have one thing in common. They care about people and they enjoy being the lifeline of society-that steady voice in a storm-the one who knows how to handle every emergency and does it with style and grace; and, uncompromised competence.

Dispatchers play many roles: therapist, doctor, lawyer, teacher, weatherman, guidance counselor, psychologist, priest, secretary, supervisor, politician, and reporter. And few people must jump through the emotional hoops on the trip through the joy of one caller’s birthday party, to the fear of another caller’s burglary in progress, to the anger of a neighbor blocked in their drive, and back to the birthday caller all in a two-minute time frame. The emotional rollercoaster rolls to a stop after an 8 or 10 hour shift, and they are expected to walk down to their car with steady feet and no queasiness in their stomach-because they are dispatchers. If they hold it in, they are too closed. If they talk about it, they are a whiner. If it bothers them, it adds more stress. If it doesn’t, they question themselves, wondering why.

Dispatchers are expected to have:

  • the compassion of Mother Theresa
  • the wisdom of Solomon
  • the interviewing skills of Oprah Winfrey
  • the gentleness of Florence Nightingale
  • the patience of Job
  • the voice of Barbara Streisand
  • the knowledge of Einstein
  • the answers of Ann Landers
  • the humor of David Letterman
  • the investigative skills of Sgt. Joe Friday
  • the looks of Melanie Griffith or Don Johnson
  • the faith of Billy Graham
  • the energy of Charo
  • and the endurance of the Energizer Bunny

Is it any wonder that many drop out during training? It is a unique and talented person who can do this job and do it well. And, it is fitting and proper that we take a few minutes or hours this week to honor you for the job that each of you do. That recognition is overdue and it is insufficient. But, it is sincere.

I have tried to do your job, and I have failed. It takes a special person with unique skills. I admire you and I thank you for the thankless job you do. You are heroes, and I am proud to work with you.

[This piece was written by Chief Wagoner in 1994 in connection with National Telecommunicator Week. He has graciously allowed us to post it here, and gives others permission to use it for non-commercial purposes.]

{Blog’s Disclaimer:  This is a blog that is free to all readers. We are republishing this information for your reading enjoyment and is not being commercially republished. – Ed.}

Thanks to all for an amazing job you all do.  We can’t thank you enough for being the voice on the other end of the line when we need you.  Keep up the great work you all do.

Information Compiled by LR Swenson – 2013