Lowndes County 911 is celebrating the second full week of April (April 10-16) as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. This week, sponsored by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International and celebrated annually, honors the thousands of men and women who respond to emergency calls, dispatch emergency professionals and equipment, and render life-saving assistance to the world’s citizens.

Public safety communication involves the acts of delivering critical information to fellow agencies to share information and coordinate effective incident response. Additionally, it includes providing timely event details to residents and community members to help ensure their safety.

“Telecommunicators are the First, First Responders. We are the vital link for keeping emergency responders and citizens safe. The importance of Telecommunicators and what our employees do cannot be overstated,” said Lowndes County 911 Director Danny Weeks.

Lowndes County 911 is responsible for taking calls from Lowndes County, including Valdosta, Hahira, Remerton, Lake Park, and Echols County. There are currently 41 staff members who are tasked with answering every 911 call received. In 2021, Lowndes County 911 handled 104,382 incoming emergency calls and 93,009 incoming non-emergency calls. They also handled 122,007 dispatched calls and 70,966 unit-generated calls.

Dispatchers are not only trained to take the information but keep the callers on the line to keep them calm and get as much information from them as needed.

“It takes a special person to do this job and also one who is highly trained,” said Weeks. “All employees at 911 are state certified through POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training)”.

“Our local Public Safety Telecommunicators do a great job in our community,” said Lowndes County Manager Paige Dukes. “They are always willing to go above and beyond to help anyone in need. Lowndes County is proud of their contributions to our community every day, and we want to thank them,” said Dukes.