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How agencies honored National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week 2021

The “first first responders” were honored with special events, social media highlights and the “Tree of Life” campaign

national public safety telecommunicators week

Photo/Trooper John Bryant

By Laura French

This year’s National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week was celebrated by agencies across the country this week to honor the service and dedication of the nation’s “first first responders.”

Beginning on April 11, agencies from every section of the public safety community flooded social media with the “thin gold line” and highlighted the dispatchers and 911 operators who offer the crucial first lifeline in any emergency. Fire, EMS and law enforcement agencies shared photos of their “headset heroes” to shine a light on the achievements of first responders who aren’t usually in the public’s view.

https://twitter.com/wspd6pio/status/1382041859967438849?s=20 https://twitter.com/AZFireAuthority/status/1382125962377129984?s=20 https://twitter.com/ChiefLieb/status/1382082935097065477?s=20

To further highlight the impact of public safety telecommunications, multiple 911 agencies and groups promoted the 911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life campaign, which accepts submissions of stories demonstrating the difference telecommunicators have made in their communities. The Tree of Life is an ongoing project that adds on “leaves” representing commended dispatchers every month, and was organized through a collaboration between the Next Generation 911 Institute, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO0, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA), the U.S. Department of Defense and the National 911 Office.

See more examples of how agencies recognized National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week 2021 below:

https://twitter.com/TMFPD/status/1382393766066098178?s=20 https://twitter.com/kissimmeepolice/status/1382006250196635648?s=20 https://twitter.com/GeorgiaEMAHS/status/1381596750469795841?s=20 https://twitter.com/TroyMI_Police/status/1382428745215188993?s=20 https://twitter.com/OaklandFireCA/status/1382415007757979651?s=20 https://twitter.com/CedarParkPD/status/1381614572977676288?s=20 https://twitter.com/opcd911/status/1382895336545468416?s=20

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