"Profiles"
President Honors Retired Army Colonel from Ventura Fire Agency
July 23, 2012Should a natural disaster or terrorist attack wipe out part of the country’s communications networks, the Ventura County Fire Department’s information technology manager might be able to help. James Norris spent the past few years as the western team chief with the Department of Homeland Security’s National Communications System, planning for emergencies that might knock out wide swaths of phone and Internet networks.
Read full article‘A Quick 20 Years’ for Jeff Schaney in Public Safety Communications
April 12, 2012“It’s been a quick 20 years,” Jeff Schaney, an assistant supervisor of the Fairfax County (Va.) Department of Public Safety Communications, says, acknowledging his 20th year of public service. He possesses a multitude of skill sets that he obtained throughout his career in the public safety sector, in which he has worked as a calltaker, police dispatcher, fire dispatcher and teletype operator. “I had to keep up my skills sets,” he says.
Read full articleDiane Billings: Emergency Fire Dispatcher Loves Going to Work at an ‘Awesome Job’
March 16, 2012Married to a retired veteran fire lieutenant who was employed for 21 years with the Prince George’s County (MD) Fire/EMS…
Read full articleDispatching Is a Career and a Passion for Padty Mayhew Davis
February 9, 2012“You can’t let your emotions affect how you do your job because it could impede the outcome for citizens and officers,” says Padty Mayhew Davis.
Read full articleBaltimore County Police Dispatcher, Stacy Starkloff, Deals with ‘Slice of Real Life’
January 19, 2012“You have to have a backbone with the police officers,” Stacy Starkloff says. Additionally, she has to remain calm in stressful situations and, regardless of whether or not she is nervous, she cannot give up and has to pull through. Starkloff is also a fast talker. “It works to my advantage,” she says.
Read full articleHeather Perkins: ‘It’s Been One of the Best Decisions of My Life’
December 13, 2011Before deciding to become an emergency dispatcher in July 2000, Heather Perkins, 32, from Santa Quin, Utah, was the manager…
Read full articleA Dispatcher’s Life
December 6, 2011Andrew Pantazi, Staff Writer, Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee) She started as a guard at Silverdale Detention Facility in Chattanooga,…
Read full articleTelecommunicator Spotlight: 3 Decades of Dispatching & Cindy Cielock Is Still Loving It
November 18, 2011“I love the adrenalin rush when there is a hot call. I enjoy the stress of it all. I like the hot call, and I like a successful conclusion,” Cindy Cielock says about her job as a public safety dispatcher for Onondaga 9-1-1 in Syracuse, N.Y. The area comprises 827,000 square miles with 600 deputies and 450 Syracuse police officers. Cielock has lived in Syracuse her entire life.
Read full articleTelecommunicator Spotlight: Medler’s Assistance to Others Elicits Indescribable Good Feeling
November 2, 2011Kelli Medler is passionate about her work. “I have a lot of respect for all the officers I work with,” she says. Would she repeat her career path to end up where she is today? “Hands down, definitely, I would be here,” she says. And, it appears she is here to stay.
Read full articleServing His State: Donald Kottlowski Discusses Interoperability in Indiana
October 20, 2011APCO International stalwart Donald Kottlowski has parlayed his lifelong interest in radio technology into a 38-year career serving his home…
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