CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett and City of Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts both issued a proclamation Monday for National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which is April 14-20.
The week recognizes the men and women in Clarksville-Montgomery County, as well as across the country, who play a critical role in the delivery of public safety services. They are commonly known as dispatchers but by many they are also called “heroes behind the headsets.”
They serve as an unseen but vital link to provide a lifeline between citizens in need and law enforcement, firefighters, and other emergency personnel. Nationwide, more than 200,000 individuals serve who are on the job 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Along with the proclamation the Montgomery County E911 Center recognized Benjamin Tribbett as co-worker of the year and Ashley Arrington as E911 employee of the year.
“We have a lot of dedicated employees who work really hard at what they do,” Brian Hitchcock, E-911 Director, said. “We’ve got training people, we’ve got management people to ensure that quality control is there and all of the training is done. I’m very pleased with this operation.”
Hitchcock says for 2018 dispatchers handled around 118,000 emergency calls to the Montgomery County E911 Center and if you include non emergency calls that number rises to close to 240,000.
When an emergency arises and help is needed, the E911 center dispatchers are there to provide a voice of reason and comfort as well as getting emergency responders on their way with help.
A number activities are planned this week at the center.
