[slideshow_deploy id=’87108′]
By Erin Smith
The Week of April 9 through April 15 has been set aside to recognize Public Safety Telecommunicators. They are “the voice on the other end of the line” when you call 911 or dial *HP on your cell phone. They are the vital link between you and getting help to your location.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol Telecommunications Center Supervisor Debbie Reilley said the telecommunications center located in Elizabethtown receives calls from Troopers located in an 11 county area that make up North Carolina State Highway Patrol Troop B. The counties that make NC State Highway Patrol Troop B are Cumberland, Sampson, Onlsow, Duplin, Pender, Columbus, New Hanover, Brunswick, Robeson, Harnett and Bladen. Reilley said anytime a motorist dials *HP on their cell phone in any of those counties, the call is answered in the telecommunications center in Elizabethtown.
The Highway Patrol Telecommunications Center relays information and receives information from State Troopers only. Really said their peak call volumes often occur in the period from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. She added one of the largest call volumes received at the telecommunications center was during Hurricane Matthew when the telecommunications center received more than 2,000 in the span of just a few hours.
Patti Yandle, a Telecommunicator with the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office, said the 911 Call Center located in the Courthouse in Elizabethtown is the “heartbeat” of Bladen County. She said Telecommunicators located in the E-911 Call Center answer the calls for EMS, fire departments, the Sheriff’s Office and Elizabethtown, Bladenboro and White Lake Police Departments. Yandle said it does not stop there. She said they also dispatch calls for animal control and public utilities.
In an emergency time is critical in getting help to a patient. Yandle said in 2015 the Bladen County E-911 Call Center was also presented a plaque for obtaining a 96.89% performance in answering all 911 calls within 10 seconds.
The job of telecommunicator is also a very stressful one. For example, Yandle said, in the event of a bad traffic accident, there are many different agencies the Telecommunicators reach out to and must coordinate the response. Yandle said, if the helicopter is needed, the E-911 Call Center must call and see if the helicopter is available, coordinate a landing zone and give the coordinates of the landing zone to the pilot; all while coordinating the EMS, fire department and law enforcement response to the crash scene as well.
Yandle said the E-911 Call Center Telecommunicators also receive 911 Calls from other counties. She said that occurs sometimes based on where a person is and what cell phone tower their phone hits. Yandle said when those situations occur, they take the information and transfer the call to the correct county’s E-911 Call Center.
Yandle said during Hurricane Matthew, the Bladen County E-911 Call Center received numerous class for help from residents in Sampson and Cumberland counties, when the E-911 Call Centers in those counties were down briefly due to the storm.
About Author
