National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (April 10-16) is an opportunity for communities to focus on the first first responders who answer emergency calls, said West Virginia University Police Chief Bob Roberts.

April also serves as 911 education month, which focuses on teaching the proper use of 911 for aid in emergency situations (and as any communication officer knows, not pranks, recipes, weather checks, ordering a pizza or complaints about slow traffic).
“Of course, we don’t need NTW to honor our public safety communication officers for their excellence,” Roberts said. “A simple ‘thank you for all you do’ during your calls this week would be great.”

Each year, the second full week of April is dedicated to the men and women who serve as public safety telecommunicators. It was first conceived by Patricia Anderson of the Contra Costa County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Office in 1981 and was observed only at that agency for three years. By the early 1990s, the national APCO organization convinced Congress of the need for a formal proclamation. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced what became H.J. Res. 284 to create “National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.”

-WVU-

br/8/12/16

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