Credit: County of Bucks
After a trying 2020 and start to 2021, Bucks County is recognizing its dispatchers.
This week marks National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which honors those who serve as dispatchers.
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From the emergency communication center in Ivyland Borough, the county’s dispatchers take incoming 9-1-1 calls, put responders on the road to help callers, and handle radio communications between responders around the clock every single day.
Last year, the county’s dispatchers dealt with a pandemic, civil unrest, a tornado, other severe weather events, and typical calls.
Bucks County Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo said the dispatchers received about 763,000 calls and dispatched 528,000 calls to police, firefighters, medics, and other emergency responders last year.
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The county’s emergency communications operation was established in 1963 and has grown over the years, adding computer-aided dispatch in the 1980s. The county has about 125 staffers in the emergency communications center. The center serves about 130 emergency service agencies within the county.
Todd Neumann, the interim director of 9-1-1 for the county, praised the work of the dispatchers.
Credit: James O’Malley/County of Bucks
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“It is high-stress, fast-paced, and some of the calls you hear will stick with you for years, but it is an ultra rewarding profession. This county is very fortune to have the team that is staffing the emergency communications center for Bucks County,” Deputy Director of 9-1-1 John Geib said.
“You certainly are the backbone of emergency services here,” Commissioners Chairperson Diane Ellis-Marseglia said.
“Thank you very much for everything you do,” Commissioner Bob Harvie said.
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