Tuesday, August 3, 2026 | 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
MaryRoyce Lookabill, MS, CPE, CMCP, Administrative Sergeant of Communications, Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office
This session, presented by MaryRoyce Lookabill, MS, CPE, CMCP, was very inspiring when it comes to looking to the future and our young people. Her presentation focused on several aspects that hit every emergency communications center (ECC) in today’s world. She discussed the opportunity she had working with her local Career & Tech Education (CTE) department with the high school in Okeechobee. While working with the CTE, she has been able to teach the local public safety telecommunicator (PST) course to many junior and senior high school students. “Most high school students don’t know that 9-1-1 dispatching jobs exist that they can apply for after high school,” she said. And she is right!
Today’s ECCs are understaffed; some agencies are understaffed even when fully staffed. We are dealing with rising call volumes and a dwindling qualified applicant pool. Lookabill stressed how students never learn about public safety telecommunications careers, how to properly communicate and stress management. As a result of this program, the instructors are able to prepare and certify students to enter the workforce, which shapes and builds the next generation of PSTs to enter the workforce.
This program is a state-aligned curriculum that introduces the ECC operations, trains on call taking and crisis communication and radio communication, and also uses scenario-based emergency simulations and helps with certification preparation. Lookabill noted that some would think that these students do not have the life experience to perform in an ECC, but she asked everyone to hold up their hand if they have ever had a gun pointed at their head. Only one hand went up in a full room. “It is not about the life experience that you have. It is about the training you have gone through and how to implement that in your work,” she pointed out. Most of us never experience the nature of the calls we take. But we train and prepare for those calls. I would strongly suggest looking at her slides, watching her recording, or, if you see her, having a conversation about what she has accomplished. It will not disappoint.
Written by Christopher King
