David joins colleagues in honoring emergency dispatchers
April 09 ,2007
'Behind The Scenes Heroes' Recognized by City
Council
by Dan Crowley, Daily Hampshire Gazette, April 9, 2007
by Dan Crowley, Daily Hampshire Gazette, April 9, 2007
NORTHAMPTON - The City Council and public safety
officials are recognizing the city's dispatchers
during National Emergency Telecommunicators Week,
which begins today.
Each year, the city's 11 public safety dispatchers handle over 33,000 emergency 911 and non-emergency calls for the city's police, fire and medical services.
They dispatch and coordinate the city's police officers, fire units and ambulances, and maintain after-hours contact with the Department of Public Works, animal control, and all city buildings.
The City Council recognized the city's public safety dispatchers with a proclamation at the close of its nearly four-hour session Thursday night.
"They're sort of the behind-the-scenes heroes in public safety," Ward 4 City Councilor David J. Narkewicz, who serves on the Public Safety Committee, said Friday.
"Every emergency, every public safety-related event comes through them," he said. "You don't realize how important it is until you need that assistance."
Melissa Nazzaro, who took over as administrator of the Northampton Public Safety Communications Center in December, said in a statement that it is an honor to be able to recognize the important work emergency dispatchers do every day.
"When a resident or visitor in Northampton calls 911, they receive the highest quality service we can provide them," she said.
"It is more than taking a phone call, sometimes we are their only link to services that can save their lives. We take that job very seriously."
National Emergency Telecommunicators Week began in 1981 to put a special focus on public safety telecommunications professionals for their contributions to the safety and security of people around the world. Nazzaro noted that the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International convinced the U.S. Congress in 1991 of the need for a formal proclamation, which became permanent in 1994.
Each year, the city's 11 public safety dispatchers handle over 33,000 emergency 911 and non-emergency calls for the city's police, fire and medical services.
They dispatch and coordinate the city's police officers, fire units and ambulances, and maintain after-hours contact with the Department of Public Works, animal control, and all city buildings.
The City Council recognized the city's public safety dispatchers with a proclamation at the close of its nearly four-hour session Thursday night.
"They're sort of the behind-the-scenes heroes in public safety," Ward 4 City Councilor David J. Narkewicz, who serves on the Public Safety Committee, said Friday.
"Every emergency, every public safety-related event comes through them," he said. "You don't realize how important it is until you need that assistance."
Melissa Nazzaro, who took over as administrator of the Northampton Public Safety Communications Center in December, said in a statement that it is an honor to be able to recognize the important work emergency dispatchers do every day.
"When a resident or visitor in Northampton calls 911, they receive the highest quality service we can provide them," she said.
"It is more than taking a phone call, sometimes we are their only link to services that can save their lives. We take that job very seriously."
National Emergency Telecommunicators Week began in 1981 to put a special focus on public safety telecommunications professionals for their contributions to the safety and security of people around the world. Nazzaro noted that the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International convinced the U.S. Congress in 1991 of the need for a formal proclamation, which became permanent in 1994.