National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is celebrated the second week in April and honors dispatchers like Britnee Callaway. Photo by Michael Schumacher.

Last year there were over 365 medical, fire, and hazardous material calls that came into the Emergency Services Dispatch Center (ESDC) at Pantex. The dispatchers who take those calls are the lifeline to emergency services, working to get help to people when they need it.

Dispatchers Ayana Moore and Melodi Parton say teamwork is essential when coordinating response during an emergency.

What is an emergency? It may seem like an easy question to answer, but an emergency to one person may not be urgent for the next. Life experience, knowledge, and individual circumstances, among other things, may lead people to differ on their opinion of a true emergency.