Every April we are ecstatic to begin the second week of the month. For the majority of our agencies’ history, the event was not celebrated, however, for the past five years, we have celebrated NPSTW much to the delight of our Telecommunicators. Every year, a committee of peers creates a …
Telecommunicators have one of the toughest jobs in public safety. They show up day and night, taking the difficult calls. They are the unseen heroes. If telecommunicators could have one superpower, it should be the ability to never lose empathy. Sometimes you become numb or desensitized from the tough calls …
Behind the scenes and around the clock, 911 dispatchers are delivering safe environments and security across our critical facilities and communities. Their diligence and sense of duty mark the signature of their everyday work.
The Telecommunicators at Forsyth County Emergency Services answer approximately 115,000 911 calls, and 264,000 non-emergency calls a year (2021). That is around 315 911 calls a day and around 723 non-emergency calls a day. Just to put things into perspective our day shift has 6 Telecommunicators and the night shift …
As a dispatcher, I believe that public safety telecommunicators have two superpowers: listening and empathy. Empathy is a critical human skill that a lot of people lack. Not only does it allow us to create connections with others, but it also allows us to treat each call with the same …
14-year-old Michael Salazar from Arvada Colorado wrote this reflection of a 9-1-1 dispatcher. He is the child of 25-year dispatcher Karen Salazar.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, membership community, and staff of The Monitoring Association (TMA), it is with great joy that we extend our best wishes to APCO International, its leadership, and its members as you join together in celebration of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.
We celebrate NPSTW by having lots of fun. The Administration staff brings us awesome gifts and treats us everyday with lunch and even a cookout on the weekend, whether it be a barbeque or a fish fry, they show us so much love. Different businesses and organizations in the community …
Much of what we do is skill, knowledge and experience, but a great portion is also intuition. Often our calls are not ‘black & white’ and it takes the use of our ‘Spidey Senses’ to get to the truth of the call. People will try to gloss over details either …
When you have the unexpected come up, which is frequently, the best superpower is teamwork. At Classic Air Medical’s Comm Center, our team relies on each other’s strengths to get the job done and the patient transported safely. Kelly Snow’s ability to remain calm on the line, Jessica Fisk’s creative …
To be honest with our current staffing shortage I wish my superpower was the ability to clone my current telecommunicators. They are some of the most resilient, dedicated, compassionate, hard working individuals and they are having to do it all double time because of the critical staffing level we’re at. …
Ten of my 25 years in the field of 9-1-1 have been in senior management which means I spent 15 years as a frontline hero behind the headset. Make no mistake, I AM still a GLADIATOR! Not that I have been doing this THAT long, back when the first 9-1-1 …
We at WestCOMM believe that our dispatchers are psychic. Dispatchers often have the ability to predict future events as we constantly need to be thinking multiple steps ahead. We predict influxes of wire and tree down calls during storms, what kinds of calls we are going to get and when …
I think anyone who has ever dispatched would agree that having crazy super powers like being able to see the future, mind reading or even being able to be in two places at one time would be amazing. Truth is though, every dispatcher is a superhero. We literally …
Here in the dispatch center, countless days and hours are spent asking questions. Some would argue that it is our most frequent task. WHO,WHAT,WHERE,WHEN,WHY? Question after question… It’s a never ending stream of new and fluid information that we are responsible to organize, condense and redistribute. But when you really …
I have the pleasure of working with some awesome and fearless dispathers. My job is to make sure that they are paid accurately and correctly. My superpower would be able to pay them the millions that they are definitely worth!!!
Nobody wishes to ever experience the traumatic experiences that are involved in a life-altering emergency. Never has there been someone to wake up, and hope to suffer through an emergency situation. Nevertheless, the world we all live in is not so forgiving. People suffer through heart-wrenching, emotional, traumatic incidents every …
It takes a special strength and resilience to do what our emergency dispatchers do. Every day I see our operators take control of serious, sometimes life-threatening situations using just a telephone and a radio. They listen to people in distress, yet I see and hear them remain composed and focussed. …
Our dispatchers have the superpower of being the informational hub and nucleus of our city. They are the calm in chaos, the trusted lifeline between our citizens and field personnel; they are efficient, brilliant and creative. They have the ability to power through a pandemic, a severe staffing shortage, and …
Amazingly Arid is an essential Dispatcher super-power. It is used in a variety of ways: Bladder control is paramount when leaping tall buildings in a single bound…while working through a major incident without a potty break. Amazingly Arid is the ability to care deeply, think clearly and be decisive while …
“The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world.” -Plato Emergency telecommunicators handle calls for service ranging from barking dogs and noise complaints to assaults, structure fires, and medical emergencies. It is a virtuous superpower to consistently show compassion …
I think this is a superpower we already have; to help calm someone down when they’re having a stressful moment.
So often, as Telecommunicators, we find that we’ve already completed half of our tasks before we’ve even been able to explain to the callers that help is on the way. We’ve entered our information into our screens, started officers and medical en route, given the callers life-saving instructions, all while …
What superpowers do public safety telecommunicators have? I can tell you Telecommunicators possess many hidden superpowers which include maintaining calm in the face of chaos, being able to multi-task while under great pressure of an emergency, typing faster then the speed of light, active listening to hear what is going …
Dispatchers are expected to anticipate every need of their officers (read their mind) . Just get someone here! (know where “here” is) As a supervisor, know exactly what call (out of 30 on your screen) your staff is talking about when they say “that one”. Know what your responders meant …
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to know where people are without asking them? I’d say read their minds but not sure we’d want that power. To just automatically know as soon as you pick up the 911 line. That way you never have to hear you know where …
Every telecommuncator must have a megabrain. We have to be able to be quick-thinking, see into the future to anticipate the questions our first responders might have and be ready for anything to happen at any moment. We must be able to run scenarios for our trainees and prepare them …
There are multiple superpowers that I think could be beneficial for a telecommunicator to have. One of the most simple and obvious ones being mind reading. There are often times where, as a telecommunicator, I have been asked to do things but in a way that is obvious that I …
Public safety telecommunicators begin and end each call with a sense of calm. They never know what type of call they are receiving when the headset rings. They take a breath, answer the call, and remain cool, calm and collected the entire call. The caller could be scared, angry, worried, …
Omnilingualism would be a must have as a Telecommunicator superhero. Just imagine having the ability to not only read/comprehend, but also fluently carry on a conversation in any and all languages. You would be able to get help to all caller’s in an equal time and not have to delay …
I wish I had the Superpowers to help and save every caller in distress from my console, especially the elderly and children because they hold a very soft spot in my heart.
To be able to see the emergency so we can send exactly what is needed, super hearing to hear clearly.
This Superpower would give our Dispatchers the ability to portal from console to bed. We all need that extra hour of sleep between back to back 16 hour shifts! #DispatchersNeedZZZs
When it comes it wishing for a superpower in an ECC, I think we could all be in agreement that having an actual crystal ball and able to see the past, present and future would provide most useful. Since it seems that many already are under the impression that we …
Our dispatching team do a phenomenal job. They go above and beyond in making sure our officers are safe and secure at all times. During hectic times they remain super calm and communicate effectively.
Let’s not forget the statistic that only 2% of the WORLD’s population can do this job! After 25 years, (and I personally know several that have done it way longer than I have), this is no doubt one of the most impressive, thankless, under-estimated, under-valued, and under-studied jobs! Congratulations to …
Dual superpowers??? That’s right! Superhuman Intelligence and Location Manipulation**BOOM**We absorb knowledge at super speed and manipulate objects to locations**BAMM**we are an enormous asset to our partnering agencies with our unbelievable knowledge of everything **POW**our ability to obtain a wealth of knowledge in such a short time surpasses all other superpowers**BANG**we …
Two very crucial parts of dispatching are loving what you do and loving who you do it with. Dispatch may be a calling, but it is also your family. Quite often in our families, there are stress-building Cousin Eddie moments that cause the family to snap. Wouldn’t it be beneficial …
If I were able to have superpowers as a telecommunication officer I would love the ability to be at two places at once. Why might I want this superpower you might ask; I would like to be able to take my calls but also be there to help comfort my …
911 Dispatchers through highly trained and skilled abilities have an innate passive ability to pacify callers and those in crisis.
As dispatchers we begin to form a way of hearing that is different compared to average civilians. We are trained to listen for different types of items in backgrounds of calls and during radio traffic from officers/deputies. This is key to ensure officer safety is not compromised.
Oh, how much easier the life of a telecommunicator would be if we could all just see what our complainants are seeing. No more having to ask “which direction did they go?” and hearing “that way”. No more having to ask the complainant “which part of the house are you …
With the odd hours and the various shifts the kinds of foods we put into our body would kill most “normal” people. The ability to have Indestructible Digestion means no more Tums or Heartburn meds, insulin or any other over the counter or prescribed medicine to help us combat the …
As telecommunications officers our job titles are everything from councilor to nurse. We hear what the callers and officers are saying, but can you imagine if we could get an inside glimpse of what is going on in their mind at the moment. It would simplify our jobs ten fold.
Telecommunicators need the superpower “incredible patience” as they navigate a variety of high pressure situations with a bunch of different callers! Whether callers are escalated, stressed, or upset, telecommunicators need to maintain patience to progress the call and get the information they need quickly! It’s a difficult job and this …
Along with multitasking all of these skills we should also have the ability to maintain a professional environment be able to show peer cooperation work together as a team. We should also be able to keep calm cool and collective while training the new hires during their training. My superpower …
Dispatchers need the ability to see not only the future of a call but what has happened in the past.
Son capaces de resolver cualquier circunstancia, hasta en los momentos de tener encima la presión de todo un Gobierno, Me enorgullece la capacidad que tienes de abordar y solucionar hasta el problema más complicado
Telecommunicators have the superpower to hear everything that is going on around them at the same time. Answering an important telephone call, while hearing and listening to multiple radios; and pulling important/relevant information from each. Entering all information correctly into CAD.
Patience dealing with agitated callers.
When people call 911 it is usually on the worst day of their lives. They or a family member is hurt or worse. I wish as a telecommunicator that I could have the ability to help heal that person just by talking to them through the phone. Telecommunicators are considered …
The Dispatchers work together as one. With the power to read each other’s minds, they work together to get the job done. The power makes them strong.
Telecommunicators already have the superpower of understanding callers when they are unable to speak clearly. Whether it’s because of a speech impediment, mumbling, crying or thick accents, telecommunicators manage to understand some of the most difficult of calls. What would be even more helpful and one we could use is …
What superpowers do public safety telecommunicators have? This is something I have actually been thinking a lot about lately. Not in the superhero sense per se but in the sense of what it is that sets Telecommunicators apart from everyone else in the world. Telecommunicators are in the unique position …
This superpower would be useful for when the residents call about the deer that is roaming around the neighborhood next to the forest preserve, so we could tell the deer to return to the woods. Additional uses would be for when an officer can’t find where in the parking lot …
In need of a break? Overwhelmed with radio traffic? Pressured to enter call text quickly? Trying to do all of these at once? ‘The Pause Button’ is the solution to your every problem! Let’s face it; as telecommunicators, we sometimes require a moment of peace in order to process the colossal …
I wish I could see every caller and their location through the telephone. I wish I knew that every first responder would never be harmed or in danger at their scene. I wish I had more patience sometimes, like Job. I wish everyone knew exactly what really happens in an …
We cannot always dodge bullets, sometimes they hit you between the eyes. They may try and shoot us down, but we don’t fall – we get back up and come back stronger. Bullets big or small ricochet – now this does not mean they don’t sting but we are bulletproof …
Intangible is defined as “unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence”. A dispatcher is an agency’s most intangible asset as we are never seen nor physically present but we are always there to be relied one. In comic books, people with this power can allow objects (such …
We have the ability to take words we would like to say and quickly change them into words that should be said instead 😉
Stress Ball smasher!!!
Most telecommunicators know how to stay calm in the midst of disaster when most people panic. It was proven by Chicago PD dispatcher, Keith Thornton on August 7th, 2021. He showed the world that dispatchers take control, handle the chaos and keep on working. The superpower telecommunicators need is the …
Having the ability to have telepathic mind powers would allow a dispatcher to know exactly what is going on the person calling. They would be able to get the entire story instead of the parts the caller wants dispatch to know. This would make the jobs of our responders so …
Melbourne Police and Fire Dispatchers appear to be like any other citizen of Brevard County…. parent, sibling, dog owner and cat lover… but once we step through the portals at 701 S Babcock, our Ninja skills are initiated. These are skills that we have developed and perfected over the years…. …
I feel telecommunicators should have the compassion to be able to relate to any type of person whether they are scared, angry , or emotions just running high. I also thin empathy is very important to be able to understand a caller. i wish my super power was to have …
In the perfect world, the dispatcher would have the best superpower known to man. The ability to know what zone 107 is when an alarm company calls, and will know where to send their units. It’s a utopian world that one can only dream of.
We’ve created some social media badges for you to use throughout NPSTW. Download the badges below to post to your personal or ECC social pages to spread the superhero fun!
This year we have a travel the world theme. We will be having snacks from each place. We will be doing small contests, like guess where I went on Vacation, Dispatch Word Scramble, best dress- up outfits per shift. We have a recognition committee that has put together some pretty …
The richest man on earth, Elon Musk, once said that the news is a report of the worst things that happened on planet earth today. Everyone, these days, is constantly bombarded by *bad* news–optimism is more important than ever. Despite being bombarded by more bad news than anyone else, public …
“Instantaneous travel between two locations without crossing the intervening space.” Dispatchers basically have this power and use it on a daily basis. Whether it is a traffic stop or disturbance call, we use our knowledge of a specific area or utilize the programs available to figure out officer locations if …
As Telecommunicators, we possess the Activation superpower. This power allows us to activate various entities, agencies, and personnel to respond to calls for service. We can process information quickly and have the ability to sense whose powers we need to tap into that will give the person on the other …
Who is your superhero? Do telecommunicators come to mind? What is a telecommunicator? Why would they be superhero’s? . . . . . Let me tell you why. It takes only a person with special powers to be able to navigate chaos. It takes a team of individuals with unique …
What superpowers do public safety telecommunicators have? If it qualifies as a ‘superpower’ a dispatcher sure has it! Multitasking (check- no explanation needed) Active listening (check- we hear what is loud, sometimes even paralyzing noises, but then we can hear those miniscule voices and sounds that make all the difference) …
Often, we are seen as clerical data entry receptionists. No, no, and no. Dispatchers are resilient beyond measure in any situation. We are given minimal education, training, and experience, since it is absolutely impossible to train for EVERY situation. This is not to say that every department does not do …
T- Together, it really does take a village E- Every call, every person, every situation requires critical thinking L- Love for fellow mankind E- EMD, EFD, Q and CPR certified C- Courage to pick up that phone every time it rings O- Outstanding customer service M- Multi-taskers M- Moral compass …
In the dark confines of the police department there lies a group of unseen superheroes. When their powers combine, they are the force known as Communications. They have nerves of steel and the ability to multitask while relaying important public safety information. If only their powers included telekinesis and telepathy …
When we receive a call all senses, but hearing is taken away. We take the information without seeing what’s wrong, without knowing where it is, and who we are talking to. We must use only what we hear on the line to get help on the way. There is a …
Many of the telecommunicators I know come with the superpowers of acute listening, compassionate empathy, supersonic judgment, Superman and 911derwoman reactionary skills, and a forcefield built to deflect harsh criticisms, impatience, unkind words, hysteria, and more. Each day it seems the world is turning a little more like Gotham City, …
Having the ability to multi-task and listen is a superpower in itself and if you don’t possess either dispatching isn’t for you.
Just like the Justice League, Avengers, X-men and Guardians of the Galaxy, Telecommunicators have multitudes of superpowers! We are each: The Marvels of Multi-tasking! The Captains of Calm! The Wonder Women of Wisdom! The Supermen of Skill! The Hulks of Humility (and Humor)! The Elastic-Girls of Excellence! The Beasts of …
Thought Insertion and Telepathic Connection. I would be able to help them with their thoughts. Such as if it was a suicidal person, I change their thought process and make them feel better about their situation. So may things you could help people with.
All 911 operators / communicators are magicians, we can listen to someone (callers/officers) talk and talk about 1, 5, or 10 different things or sometimes nothing at all and turn it into a call for service or close out a call card in a direct, neat & concise narrative. if …
Have you ever stopped to think, What it’s like to be blind? Only seeing the world around you, Through the images in your mind. With sight, we have been blessed, Our world we plainly see; Though, relating in a way, To how blindness must truly be. See, the job we …
Telecommunications are adaptive, they can shapeshift into someone taking control, or be calm and help someone who is erratic. They are the invisible force, out of the corner of an eye, the ones with the invisibility cloak that directs public safety with a sky-high view. They are the masters of …
Telecommunicators are blessed with superhuman speed. Within seconds, with very little information, they instinctively understand the situation, the needed response, and what the responders need to tackle the job. They use their superhuman speed to determine the threat level, past history that may give clues to what is in store …
This is the first year FSU PD has ever had a Manager in the communication center, and I am looking for assistance with gifts ideas and ways our unsung heroes can celebrate this special event. Our dispatchers have been dedicated to this department for years and should be treated as …
Telecommunicators already process information from multiple sources at the same time, between juggling our callers, units on the radio, and the administrative messages terminal, plus the occasional fax. We’re busy people! If we could borrow the Speed Force from DC’s The Flash, life would be even better. Answering phones faster, …
Public safety telecommunicators have a very important job. PST’s are responsible for effectively carrying out a conversation with a caller so that they can provide them with the help they need. Telecommunicators can control a situation over the phone just by their tone and words of choice. They are capable …
Telecommunicators are important in law enforcement and to the community. They are the first people you call when there is trouble. They get calls as small as a cat getting stuck in a tree or calls big as fatal car accidents, murder, or even kidnapping. Just like in the superhero …
Public safety telecommunicators save lives every day. They are the unsung heroes who have an undying dedication to everyone. No matter what, they have to be on-call and ready for the day. They can’t ever be distracted or preoccupied-they constantly give all of their time, energy, and attention to anyone …
Telecommunicators have the superpower to listen and take in what people are saying no matter the circumstances. When you answer a 911 call you have no idea if the caller on the other end is going to be calm, crying, yelling, or even intoxicated. Telecommunicators can hear and figure out …
If telecommunications needed one superpower, it would be telepathy. Telepathy would eliminate the need for the calls in its entirety and would drastically decrease the amount of time needed to get help to our public and our other emergency services. The communicating without the use of words and phones or …
Public safety communicators have the power to help people however they can. If someone calls in trouble they have the ability to help them in every way possible. They help save people from fires, robberies, and so many more scary things in the world. They help so many people a …
Besides the ability to multitask, Public safety telecommunicators must have DISCERNMENT. You have to be able to use your common sense, listening skills, and training and apply it to the situation you are dealing with. This is where discernment comes into play. You hear something in the background that doesn’t …
Fingers as fast as a speeding bullet, ears tuned in to every background noise coming through the headset.. We never back down when our community needs us. Telecommunicators have tender hearts and a desire to help all those they come into contact with. We consider ourselves lucky to have so …
I think the greatest Superpower that WE have as Telecommunicators is [com]Passion. We are passionate about the communities that we serve, the First Responders that we work with and that passion and compassion we have for others is what drives us to always try to be better in our profession.
Being a telecommunicator is not for the weak. One must possess nerves of steel and a sense of calm to take calls ranging from non emergency to complete hysteria and the worst emergency imaginable. You must be the calm voice providing reassurance until an officer can get there. This superpower …
Dispatchers should all be The Flash. By the time the caller told us what was going on, we would have ran over there, got all the info we needed and back on the phone and telling the officers the correct info. LOL
To be on the phone with a distraught parent/spouse/child and able to save their loved one who just died – that would be an amazing gift. The cries of the RP get to me, because while not every dispatcher will personally experience domestic violence or a severe car accident or …
As emergency operators we often have to place ourselves in the callers situation to better understand what is going on or to visualize their exact location. We would really benefit from the power or ability to see what the caller is seeing. Often times callers are in panic mode and …
There are many incredible superpowers that we already claim as Telecommunications ROCKSTARS, from bionic hearing to supersonic multitasking to our automatic skill in switching from reclining in our seat to sitting straight up in our chair because we heard a gun click! But there’s one very unique superpower that I …
Dispatchers have the super power of Multi tasking! Phones/ Radios / Police / Fire / EMS / Public callers – happy, hysterical, mad, mental, upset, deaf, etc…/ coworkers/ computers / multiple screens / paper work etc…! Although we are good at multi tasking the power to multiply ourselves would be …
Faster (at typing) than a speeding bullet, stronger (mentally) than the raging seas. Able to quell the fears and command the response from a single console. The calm in the chaos, the voice in the dark, with nerves of steel: Telecommunicators!
We brave the worst that Mother Nature has to offer just to get to work sometimes! Hurricanes, blizzards, flooding? No problem. We leave our families to go to work in some of the worst of times! We always try to plan for upcoming storms by coming in prior to the …
No matter the situation self composure, transmitted over the radio or phone, shows that you are keeping it together for the caller. It defines that your doing your best for them to see it thru. Having empathy In a rough world is courage not weakness. Even though your heart sinks …
I think Public Safety Telecommunicators should have the ability to REMOTE VIEW through the reporting parties eyes. What a superpower it would be! This would be very helpful when a reporting party is in shock or the reporting party is a young child. The dispatcher would be able to see …
This super power is determining the difference between an actual emergency or a mentally unstable caller making up a story with no emergency at all.
A Telecommunicator may not be able to stop a moving car or a falling building, but we have the power to gather all the information and send our hero partners to save those in need.
Anyone who has witnessed a telecommunicator in action can clearly tell you what superpowers they have! They bring clarity and calm to chaos on a daily basis!
If you get a weird creepy feeling about a call, even when they are telling you that all is OK, dispatch it and tell your responders that something just doesn’t feel right.
She values customer service above all else; no matter how difficult or challenging a call might be, she is absolutely unflappable.
This crew has adapted and learned to leaned on one another to become stronger than ever.
A year ago, Cheryl Pelletier was promoted and took control of the Communications Center as its new manager. At that moment, there was a quick and deliberate turn to better times.
We are the undercover heroes because no one sees us, no one knows our names, what we look like, etc. T
Through all types of calls whether serious or mundane Dina is the consummate professional.
Very kind and always loves to help people in the communities!
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