The City of Bellingham is marking National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week with a public tribute to the dispatchers at What-Comm 911 and Prospect Fire Dispatch, the communications centers that field every 911 call in Bellingham and coordinate the response of police, fire, and emergency medical services around the clock, every day of the year.
The City's tribute described dispatchers as "the calm in the chaos" and noted that they take emergency calls, send first responders and equipment, and provide life-saving assistance during some of the most difficult moments callers experience. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is observed each year during the second full week of April, established in 1981 by Patricia Anderson of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office. The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials coordinates the national observance, which now recognizes more than 100,000 dispatchers across the United States.
What-Comm 911 serves as the primary public safety answering point for Whatcom County, routing calls and coordinating dispatch for the Bellingham Police Department, Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, Bellingham Fire Department, and numerous other agencies throughout the county. Prospect Fire Dispatch handles fire and EMS calls for areas outside What-Comm's immediate coverage zone.
The job demands skills that are difficult to appreciate from the outside. Dispatchers manage multiple simultaneous radio channels, gather accurate information from distressed callers, and make rapid decisions with incomplete information while keeping callers calm. Dispatcher retention and recruitment is an ongoing challenge across the country. Whatcom County periodically posts dispatcher openings through the Whatcom County website. More about the national observance is available at NPSTW.org.
