This has been National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. Dispatchers are the key to getting first responders to the scene and they are often overlooked, because they are behind the scenes; but, it’s not always an emergency call they handle. It might be a cow on the road, a power outage, a question about a utility, and believe it when they say they have heard it all.
Anderson County dispatchers operate out of a small room in the basement of the Sheriff’s office. Two people don headsets and wait for 911 calls on three lines, 24 hours a day, waiting to potentially guide someone through the worst day of their life. From successfully helping coach a person through administering the heimlich maneuver on their choking spouse, to sending all available firefighters to a structure fire in the county, fielding phone calls of concern for aging parents asking if Garnett Police can check on their welfare.
The dispatcher team does a little bit of everything… constantly tracking where the sheriff’s deputies are located, watching the weather for any changes, and monitoring the location of any of the four Anderson County ambulances when they are not in their station, and much more, all to keep the public safe and secure. Thank you dispatchers!
