MT. VERNON - The second week of April is dedicated to public safety
telecommunicators with National Telecommunicators Week, April 8 though 14 this year.
"They are the voices you speak with first in the event of a crisis,"
Wease said in a press release. "They are the calming voices who do their jobs behind the scenes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Telecommunicators serve the citizens by answering their request for law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services by dispatching the appropriate assistance as quickly as possible."
Patti Wease, the telecommunications supervisor for the Jefferson County 911 Dispatch Center, has worked as a dispatcher for about a decade. She is among both full-time and part-time employees at the center, including
Wease, Connie Mays, Patty Scheppel, Dawn Westerman, Jason McIlrath, Travis Settle, Ryan Meador, Mallory Adams and Kristina Draege.
The Mt. Vernon Police Department employs eight full-time dispatchers and one part-time employee in that capacity, said MVPD Chief Chris Mendenall.
Both city and county dispatchers have a number of computer programs at their disposal, including Emergitech, computer aided dispatch, an automatic phone number and location identifier, the Law Enforcement
Agency Data System and IWIN, which allows officers to talk with dispatch through their in-vehicle computers.
"They are that vital link between the citizens or victim and the public
safety provider who may apprehend a criminal, save their possessions from fire, save their life or the life of a loved one," Wease said in a press release. "Please commed the Jefferson County Sheriff's Telecommunicators, your life line when an emergency arises." - http://goo.gl/Hm5AP
