By Leila Merrill
PLATTE CITY, Mo. — A research project by graduates of Fitch & Associates’ Communication Center Manager course recently won the award for Navigator 2022 Research Poster of the Year, which was presented by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch.
The project, “Next Generation 9-1-1 Media and Your Telecommunicators’ Mental Health,” highlights the need for mental health education and tools to support emergency telecommunicators. Group members included were Richard Buck, Kathy Boucher, Patrick Clark, Johnathan Danek, Lori Maddy, Tameka Minter, Raymond Schultz and Adair Welfel, according to a news release from Fitch & Associates.
“Our team uncovered this critical topic and understood the need that was there. We worked diligently with subject matter experts who also share the same passion to ensure our information was factual and informative. We worked to get the message out that it’s OK to not be OK,” said Patrick Clark, who was the group project leader. Clark is a captain with Monongalia Emergency Medical Services.
Fitch & Associates senior partner and education chair, Dr. Anthony Minge, said the CCM student do top-quality research.
“They have such great ideas and the problem is often narrowing the topics down so they can complete the project in the short time frame given, which is about six weeks,” he said. “Competition at Navigator is stiff, and this shows the dedication and quality of work these students are doing.”
IAED made the announcement in April at its Navigator 2022 conference in Nashville. Other graduates from the CCM course also were recognized.
Fitch & Associates presents the CCM course in partnership with IAED each fall. The course includes an in-depth research project.