Appreciating communicators

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The week of April 10th begins National Telecommunications Week. This week was founded in 1994 as a means to thank all police, fire, and EMS dispatchers.

Last year alone our communication officers received 50,000 non-emergency phone calls, 5,900 additional calls on our 911 lines, and dispatched over 4,600 fire and EMS calls between Wilmington, Blanchester and Sabina. Our communication officers dispatched 18,567 police calls, and handled countless other walk-ins and service-related calls for water and sewer.

The role of a communication officer has changed greatly in the last 23 years. Technology has evolved to get service to our citizens faster.

Their training has evolved, too. Our dispatchers can aid in CPR and first aid response over the phone. We have aided in the delivery of children, worked on keeping families calm while explaining how to do CPR to save a life, and have been involved in traumatic calls in needing assistance where a calm, collected voice from our communications center made a difference.

So this week I, too, would like to extend my thanks to the Wilmington Police Communication Division — Becky Myers, Hanna Smithson, Beth Tolliver, Terri Johnson, Robin Cassell, and Terri Murphy. I couldn’t be more proud of all the hard work they do day in and day out.

Thanks.

Duane Weyand

Chief of Police

Wilmington

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