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http://www.sdapsd.org
Dispatcher of the Year - Finalists
Terri Darling - San Diego Police Department
Valerie Richardson - San Diego Police Department
Rebecca Spradley - San Diego Police Department
Incident of the Year - Finalists
Terri Darling, Yaulande Miller, Christine Galloway, Sandra DeGuzman - San Diego Police Department
San Diego County Sheriff's Department Communications Center
Escondido Police Department Communications Center
Communications Center of the Year - Finalists
Escondido Police Department Communications Center
San Diego County Sheriff's Department Communications Center
San Diego Harbor Police Department Communications Center
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ESCONDIDO: Dispatch center named best in county
By COLLEEN MENSCHING - Staff Writer | Monday, April 14, 2008 4:32 PM PDT
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/04 ... 5e4594.txt
ESCONDIDO ---- The city's emergency dispatch center has been named Communications Center of the Year by the San Diego Association of Public Safety Dispatchers.
The center, recognized for its work during the October wildfires, beat out two other finalists for the honor ---- communications centers at the Sheriff's Department and the Harbor Police in San Diego.
Dispatch shift supervisor Martha Ellis nominated the Escondido crew. She said Monday that she and her colleagues had no idea what to expect at Saturday's awards ceremony in San Diego.
"We were happy with the outcome" of the dispatcher center's work during the wildfires, Ellis said. "No lives were lost in the city of Escondido. We didn't really need an award to drive that point home, but the recognition is always nice. We were ecstatic."
Early on Oct. 22, the Witch Creek and Guejito fires ---- fueled by dry vegetation, high temperatures and Santa Ana winds reaching 60 miles per hour ---- began to make their way through parts of Escondido.
"That just made life hell, to be honest," said Garry Wells, communications manager for the Escondido Police and Fire Communications Center.
The center isn't usually fully staffed at 2 a.m., and Oct. 22 was no exception.
Wells said a fourth dispatcher was called in to help, but that three chairs were still empty until about 7 a.m., when more and more of the department's 23 members woke up and realized large swaths of the county were burning.
Those who weren't forced to evacuate or who were stuck behind roadblocks began volunteering for duty, Wells said.
During the first 24 hours of the fires, nearly 800 calls were made to 911, Wells said. Another 2,060 calls came in on the department's non-emergency line during the same period, he said.
Even as dispatchers handled a constant stream of fire calls, the standard calls for medical aid and crime were still coming in, Wells said.
"You're just on autopilot," he said. "You go from phone to phone to phone."
Ellis said there was food in the police station that went mostly untouched by busy dispatchers.
"If you had to go to the bathroom, you did," she said. "But you forget that you're hungry. You forget that you need to eat."
Jeffrey Hebert, president of the dispatchers association and a communications manager for the Sheriff's Department, said the Escondido center's work was impressive given the size of its staff.
"They are a relatively small comm center compared to the Sheriff's Department and other larger jurisdictions," he said.
Hebert noted that Monday was the beginning of National Public Safety Dispatchers Week.
"When people think of public safety, they think of the police officers or the firefighters in uniform," Hebert said. "But they don't typically think of the person who is on the other end of the line when they call 911."
According to the San Diego Association of Public Safety Dispatchers Web site, the Communications Center of the Year award is given to the department that performed "most admirably" during the previous calendar year.
The award can recognize such achievements as overcoming personnel shortages, innovations in dispatching, or, as in the case of Escondido, superior performance in a particular incident.
This is the first time Escondido has been recognized in the annual contest, Ellis said.
------- comment(s) From the NCTimes website -------
1.) I know the feeling.. Way to go Station-H....
2.) Victor 22 - Way to go H. You guys rock. Phenaminally outstanding
3.) Proud of YOU - What a fabulous honor for a terrific group of people! Dispatchers are often the unseen, unsung heroes who work behind the scenes and keep order in an otherwise chaotic business. Escondido P.D.'s dispatchers are among the best! Keep up the good work and hold your heads high!!!