Friday Night Links 4/12/2013 — Let’s Kick Off Dispatcher Appreciation Week!

Friday Night Links 4/12/2013 — Let’s Kick Off Dispatcher Appreciation Week!.

Post borrowed from Melissa Kositzin

Check out her blog at Wandering Voiceless

On time and under budget this week… Here we go.

Next week — April 14-20 2013 — is Dispatcher Appreciation Week. Okay, I know it’s actually called National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. Sue me. Here’s some background on “our” week.

Today I attended Sonoma County’s Dispatcher Appreciation Luncheon in beautiful Healdsburg at the Healdsburg Golf Course. Every year this luncheon is put together by a small group of dispatchers representing every agency in Sonoma County. They find a venue, plan a menu, and arrange for door prizes for all attendees. In years past, they’ve had various speakers on the program; this year we played two rousing games of Family Feud with dispatch specific questions — that’s right, they sent out a questionnaire ahead of time to build the “top x” answers. As a special treat this year, they also had raffle prizes. Bonus: I won a 2010 World Series baseball, which I gave to Prince Charming. THANK YOU SONOMA COUNTY DISPATCHERS! 

So, in honor of my fellow dispatcher cohorts, whom I deeply appreciate, all links this week will be dispatch related.

First up, there’s a fabulously funny gal running around facebook who goes by the name of “Diary of a Mad Dispatcher.” Her real name is Kristin Kitchen and she is a dispatcher in southeast North Carolina. She and her team of trusted friends/co-workers post a lot of cartoons like this one:

… but she also posts give-aways, discussions and Q&A. She also has a blog. I find her to be articulate and passionate about our profession. She’s a great ambassador.

In honor of Dispatcher Appreciation Week, she was interviewed by The Badge Guys. You can find the interview here and here  – yes, it’s two parts! Part 2 includes a video about Roseville PD dispatch  (in Northern California), and in it Kristin discusses the stress and uncertainty associated with being a dispatcher. It’s a great read.

As a bonus link, The Badge Guys also recently posted a column about dispatcher stress. Go take a look at that, too; it has really good information about “the silent killer.”

In 9-1-1 Magazine there is a page of NPSTW resources, and Barry Furey talks about how, “… we’re saving the world, one caller at a time.” 9-1-1 Magazine is one of my go-to resources for all things dispatch-related.

Finally, we’re gonna wrap it up with a video about the Newtown dispatchers winning an award for their work during the Sandy Hook incident.

So, yes, although I don’t talk about it too much, I’m very proud of my job. Hopefully, I’ll be writing more about it soon.

Have a great weekend… and take some time next week to thank your local dispatcher, eh?