CARMEL — When Erie County officials requested mutual aid in the midst of Buffalo’s recent historic snowfall, public safety telecommunicators across the state answered the call, both in-person and remotely.
CSEA members working at the Putnam County 911 Center were among our union members who stepped up to help with emergency dispatching duties. Two dispatchers provided in-person relief in Western New York, while other dispatchers worked remotely from Carmel following up on backlogged emergency calls.
“While mutual aid amongst municipalities is far from a new concept, advances in technology have made it more feasible in the world of public safety telecommunications,” said Putnam County Unit member Cindy Jacobsen, a dispatch supervisor.
The resources currently available are a far cry from the days when information sharing amongst agencies happened primarily via teletype machines, radio transmissions and phone calls.
“Erie County provided us with a spreadsheet of people they needed us to follow up on and our dispatchers made the phone calls,” said Jacobsen. “We were able to make notes as to whether the people still needed help or if they were OK, and then Erie County took it from there. Everything was updated live, so they were able to see our notes right away.”
Shawn Madsen and Heather Fox
In addition to Jacobsen, those handling backlogged calls were shift supervisor Shawn Madsen; dispatchers Heather Fox, Kathy Dart and Brittany Carroll and dispatcher trainee Steve Zukowski.
Madsen and Fox later traveled to Western New York, where they spent several days handling emergency medical service calls at an Erie County dispatch center. Training that Putnam County dispatchers take through what’s known as the telecommunicator emergency response team (TERT) provides the working knowledge needed for dispatchers from one county to step behind the console at another county’s dispatch center.
“Not everyone has the same CAD (computer aided dispatch) system, so you might not be familiar with another agency’s equipment, but Heather and Shawn were familiar with their EMD (emergency medical dispatch) process and were able to assist with calls and give prearrival instructions,” said Jacobsen.
Despite the fact that their work isn’t normally visible to the public, there is a bond and camaraderie amongst public safety telecommunicators that provided a certain urgency to step up and help.
“It was a great feeling knowing that we could ease their burden in Erie County with all they were going through, not only to help the residents of Buffalo but also to help our fellow dispatchers get a bit of breathing room,” said Jacobsen. “Other agencies have been there to support us in our times of need, as well. We’re really one big extended family.”
— Jessica Ladlee
