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Something to Be Proud Of ...
Nominate Someone You Know for an APCO PSAP Award
By Patrick Finucane
The phone rang during the night shift, and nobody expected what was on the other end. Telecommunicators are trained to be prepared for and handle anything that comes across that phone or radio, and that does sound quite noble. In reality, there are simply certain incidents that shake even the best, veteran telecommunicator.
The call came in to the small, second floor radio room, just short of the police dispatcher’s one-year anniversary. The woman’s voice on the other end snapped him awake from the routine dispatcher tasks, such as parking complaints, loud parties and barking dogs.
“My five-day-old baby stopped breathing!” she cried.
The dispatcher was working in a police district, and the last thing on his mind was a call for a medical emergency. He sat up straight in his chair, scribbled down address information, placed her on hold in this pre-CAD, pre-EMD time and relayed the information to the fire dispatcher in the next room. He quickly returned to the line where the hysterical mother was begging for help. She shouted about the baby choking, not moving and turning blue. He thought back to his training as an emergency medical technician and began stuttering about back blows and rescue breathing. While instructions fumbled from his mouth, he radioed the police units in her area.
It seemed to take forever, but the baby started crying. Seconds later, a police officer arrived and took control of the scene. The drained dispatcher hung up the phone, pushed himself away from the console and breathed a large sigh of relief. The call came and went with little else than a few comments from the nearby dispatchers who overheard the impromptu instructions. That is, until the once-hysterical mother appeared at the door of the radio room a few weeks later.
She held a box of candy in one hand and a small child in the other. She had come to meet the voice on the other end of the phone, the lifeline, and give him a box of candy and a thank you card for the help with her choking son. That single act of kindness from a lady he had only spoken to for a matter of minutes, meant so much to him that 18 years later the dispatcher still has the thank you card and tells the story to every rookie dispatcher, so that they can learn about the unexpected calls they might receive on duty.
The shift supervisor eventually wrote a nice little report to management about the incident and recommended the dispatcher be nominated for dispatcher of the month. He never received the title but was blessed with an “attaboy” in his mailbox a few days later. Back then, such recognitions as “dispatcher of the month,” were relatively unheard of. And, like most telecommunicators claim when honored or celebrated, he said he had only answered a phone call and done his best to help the child breathe, as trained. “Just doing my job.”
This was the first time that dispatcher had ever heard of such an award. The rookie was briefly confused, asking questions like, “Wasn’t this what we all signed up for? Isn’t this what’s supposed to happen when an emergency call comes in to our centers?” He just didn’t understand all of the hoopla about doing the job to the best of his ability.
Fast forward
Today, with many more years of communications center experience under my belt, my opinion and feelings about receiving an award have changed from a once reluctant and suspicious nature to a more thankful and honored one. I now fully understand the reasons presentations and awards are given to those people, who are often most comfortable behind the scenes rather than in the direct limelight. Simply stated, they deserve it. At the risk of preaching to the choir, telecommunicators help save lives and protect property each and every time they belly up to the console. Not every profession can make that claim.
PSAP Awards
Recently, APCO has been leading the charge to improve the overall opinion of awards and other programs designed to recognize the incredible jobs performed by the estimated 200,000 telecommunicators in more than 25,000 primary PSAPs across the country. It has become quite an honor to be dubbed APCO’s Telecommunicator, Line Supervisor, Director, RF Technologist, Information Technologist or Trainer of the Year. To receive the honor of even being nominated, means that your peers, some who have shared the most intense moments of your career, have agreed that you deserve to be held up a bit higher than others for how you acted, responded and/or continually handle yourself on the job.
As with most tasks performed by 9-1-1 personnel, the award is often seen as a team effort. Although one person is selected for the presentation, teamwork most often sparks recognition of the behavior.
“The Communications Director Award is special,” explains Deputy Director of Communications, Chester County, Pa., John Haynes, who won Communications Director of the Year during the 2007
Pennsylvania State APCO Conference, “Because, although my name is on the award, it is a tribute to the outstanding staff I am privileged to work with each day. I was incredibly honored.”
Chester County Platoon Leader Keith Simpkins was awarded Telecommunicator of the Year at the 2003 Pennsylvania State APCO Conference. He explains, “Obviously, I was elated at the honor of being selected for the award. I have always maintained a high level of respect for dispatcher/calltaker awards. By the association recognizing its members in such a manner, [it] creates a forum to discuss best practices and highlight a telecommunicator who strives to do the best job possible.”
For those of you still teetering on the edge of the awards program fence, I invite you to peruse the daily newspaper or watch the evening news. Rarely a week passes without the local 9-1-1 center being accused of getting addresses wrong, wasting too much time, causing unnecessary delays, etc., etc. When one center takes a hit, we all feel it. Likewise, when a rare news story hits the airwaves about how well 9-1-1 personnel did during a critical incident, we can all share in the honor.
Simpkins adds, “The fact that organizations like APCO recognize a job well done is an effort to promote the good that is done year in and year out, by the professionals that work in the 9-1-1 business.”
For this reason, participation in the annual APCO Awards Program should be encouraged. We can’t wait for the general public, television or print media to recognize the daily work of communications centers. Department heads should take the opportunity offered by the APCO program, not only to recognize a few of their team members, but also to help increase awareness of their center’s accomplishments. Also, without even trying, we may just improve any dipping morale.
“I encourage centers to participate in the APCO awards,” Deputy Director Haynes adds. “When excellence is the norm, we often forget to acknowledge the work being performed. These awards are not about getting a name on a plaque. They are about continually improving our profession.”
The staff at APCO International has put together an annual awards program in conjunction with National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week that each nominee and recipient can be proud of. As 9-1-1 personnel, we all know we make a difference in people’s lives every day. This is a chance for us to make a difference in the lives of our coworkers and fellow team members. Help recognize the first of the first responders” and submit your award nominations before the April 1, 2008, deadline. Some day, you may be the one saying, “I was just doing my job.”
Download the nomination form for PSAP Awards at http://www.apcointl.org/new/membership/awards.php.
- Patrick Finucane is former APCO instructor and a freelance writer with 26-years of emergency services experience. He has been a volunteer firefighter/EMT, telecommunicator III and assistant communications training coordinator with the Chester (Pa.) County Department of Emergency Services. Contact him via e-mail at ewfc46@aol.com. |
