WATERBURY, Vermont — Members of the Vermont State Police and the Department of Public Safety are saying “thank you” this week to the state’s public safety telecommunicators — the personnel who work as dispatchers throughout Vermont.
“On behalf of everyone at the Department of Public Safety, I want to take a moment to thank you and recognize your hard work and dedication to the people of Vermont,” Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Anderson wrote in an email to the state’s dispatchers. “You are the vital link between our communities and fire, medical and law enforcement agencies. Every day you are there to answer the call and assure someone that ‘help is on the way.’
“You are unsung heroes whose work often goes unnoticed and underappreciated,” Anderson continued. “But rest assured that all of us a DPS know how vital a role you play in keeping Vermont safe and secure. We couldn’t do it without you.”
The tribute to dispatchers comes during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, an annual, nationwide event that occurs during the second full week of April. This year, telecommunicators week began April 8 and continues through April 14.
As part of the celebration, the Vermont State Police released a video thanking the state’s approximately 85 full- and part-time dispatchers and 911 call-takers for their hard work, and letting them know how vital their contributions are to emergency personnel and the residents of and visitors to Vermont.
Vermont dispatchers and call-takers handled 135,883 E911 calls in 2017.
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