The Hays County Commissioners Court earlier this month thanked the telecommunicators (also known as dispatchers) who take myriad, intense phone calls for emergency services on a 24/7 basis.
According to the proclamation, dispatchers are the “unseen” first responders the public encounters when they make a call for help and are trained to respond with calm, helpful information that provides support until law enforcement, fire and/or medical assistance arrives. Dispatchers are also a critical link for those responders by monitoring their activities, providing them information, and ensuring their safety.
Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler, whose office oversees the Hays County Dispatch Center which serves several first responder agencies, noted that dispatchers are one moment calming a frantic caller whose child is suddenly missing, and the next providing information to a law enforcement officer assisting with childbirth by the side of the road.
As the proclamation notes, public safety dispatchers serve the public in countless ways, often without recognition from the beneficiaries of their services.
