It’s 911 Dispatcher Appreciation Week, Share Your Story!
ROBERTSON COUNTY TENNESSEE: (Smokey Barn News) – This week is 911 Dispatcher appreciation week. April 14 through April 20th is the week we say thank you to that special team that sets ready 24/7 to launch the life-saving services we are so lucky to have. A lifeline to the fireman, police officers, and emergency medical personnel, 911 dispatchers are a critical part of the team.
In every emergency, they are the calm voice on the other end of the telephone to let you know that you are not alone and help is on the way. The service they provide is invaluable but the nature of their job means they are not seen like Police officers and Firefighters or medics. They are the key that unlocks every emergency service in the country but few know who they are. Well, this week is your chance to thank them.
April is also 911 education month, so take a minute and talk about the proper use of 911 with your family.
Smokey Barn News would like to say thank you to all of our wonderful 911 dispatchers who work day and night, always there and always ready for that one critical moment that can mean life or death.
Instead of a hundred thousand people calling the dispatch center to thank each one of them individually (they’d be flattered, but that might make them nervous, flood the switchboard, cause havoc) instead -share your story in comments for them to enjoy on Smokey’s Facebook/Instagram or Twitter under this post. Tell us about the time that 911 was there for you.
Poem – “Just A Voice”
A Poem written by Alan Burton
Some call them dispatchers
Others are called operator or clerk
Or telecommunicator or aide
Some are police officers; most are not
Some are firefighters; most are not
The name Is not important
But they are.
Dispatchers serve many masters
Yet they are masters themselves
Some serve the police, or fire
Others serve EMS, or sheriffs
Some serve the highway patrol
Many serve all of these
Yet that’s not important
But they are.
Dispatchers perform many functions
They command the radio channels
That no one else understands
They make sense of the unsensible
Hear the unhearable
Remember everything, forget nothing
Yet that’s not important
But they are.
Emergency phone calls are never-ending
Problems to make a priest blush
Crises that defy resolution
Complexities to confound a lawyer
With the clock running
Someone is watching
Are they performing up to speed?
Yet that’s not important
But they are.
Some deal with problems at the counter
Is the computer up?
The officer needs the information
Now!
Doesn’t anyone realize that lives
Are at stake here?
Isn’t this important?
Expectations are high
Pay too often is low
Hours are unusually long
Shiftwork and overtime
Christmas and Easter
Complaints are of no avail
There is no one to listen
Yet that’s not important
Dispatchers are expected to know
What a police officer knows
Without the same training
For who does the officer look to
For questions about the law
Resources that are needed
For help…
Of course that’s not important either.
Dispatchers are the hub, we know
They are the center of the universe
We know
Even if no one else does
And that IS important.
Dispatching is an outrageous career
But most won’t make it a career
Few people can take it
Few people would want to
Few people have the stamina
Few people can afford it
And that IS important
Police officers need dispatchers
Firefighters need dispatchers
EMTs and paramedics need dispatchers
The community needs dispatchers
And that IS important
And so are They.
©1987 Alan Burton
LINK: Robertson County’s 911 website: www.Robertson911.com
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