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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

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

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:

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… 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?

By Thonie Hevron

Mysteries to keep you reading through the night.

One reply on “Friday Night Links 4/12/2013 — Let’s Kick Off Dispatcher Appreciation Week!”

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