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Berkeley Co. honors emergency dispatchers

by Nikki Gaskins Campbell

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–The Berkeley County 911 Communications Center is celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunications Week from April 13th – 19th by honoring dispatchers during this week and has

Last year, Berkeley Co. dispatchers received nearly 95,000 emergency calls.
Last year, Berkeley Co. dispatchers received nearly 95,000 emergency calls.

named Ashley Taylor “Telecommunicator of the Year” for 2013.

This week, sponsored by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, honors the thousands of men and women who respond to emergency calls by dispatching emergency professionals and equipment and rendering life saving assistance to the world’s citizens. In 1991, Congress proclaimed the second week of April as a nationally recognized week of acknowledgment. Berkeley County Council voted to join the proclamation and has adopted it since 2009.

“These men and women are the unseen, behind-the-scenes heroes of our communities,” says Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis, “on any given day, a dispatcher must handle a number of sensitive and difficult calls, while keeping calm and collected. They never know when they may be called to guide someone through administering CPR, calm someone who has been a victim of a crime, or even keep a person experiencing a medical emergency lucid and awake. It’s a tough job which requires extraordinary skills coupled with the ability to multitask and remain calm during emotionally demanding situations.”

Roxanne Willey is the Director of the Berkeley County Communicatons Center. According to Willey, the center has six dispatchers on duty during each 12-hour shift. The Berkeley County Communications Center dispatches for Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, Moncks Corner Police Department, St. Stephen Police Department, Jamestown Police Department, Bonneau Police Department, Berkeley County EMS, Berkeley County Rescue and 26 Fire Departments. They handle over 300,000 calls per year.

2013 Call Statistics:

Telephone calls received in 2013

Emergency 94,730

Non Emergency 232,736

Calls dispatched in 2013

Law Enforcement 85,440

EMS 14,673

Fire 11,853

 

 

 
Nikki Gaskins Campbell
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