Darby Fire Company Praises Public Safety Telecommunicators

Darby Fire Company Celebrates National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

Darby, PA… – The volunteers of Darby Fire Company are thankful for the dispatchers’ efforts and dedication to saving lives. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is always the second full week of April, this year April 12-18, and honors the thousands of men and women who respond to emergency calls, dispatch emergency professionals and equipment, and provide life-saving assistance to the world’s citizens.

While the volunteers of Darby Fire Company enter burning buildings and fight fires, saving lives would not be possible without the dispatchers who obtain essential details and send firefighters to the correct location. The Delaware County Emergency Services Department dispatches police, fire, emergency medical services, and emergency management services. In addition to Darby Fire Company, the center is responsible for dispatching 65 fire departments, 42 police departments and 31 medical providers, handling more than a million requests annually. Dispatchers have to know which agencies are needed and can call for back up if needed.

Often talking to someone experiencing one of the worst days of their lives, telecommunicators remain calm in times of distress and often help calm the person on the other line. If 911 callers are injured or trapped in a burning building, instructions from a dispatcher may be crucial to stabilizing and saving lives.

Emergency telecommunicators face different challenges depending on the time of year as well and need to be prepared for various disasters to strike. Pennsylvania often faces harsh snowstorms in the winter and summer thunderstorms can evolve quickly from nothing to a dozen calls in a few minutes.

While Delaware County’s center is staffed with telecommunicators, Darby Fire Company needs more volunteer firefighters to answer their calls. Training and gear are provided at no charge and the experience is life changing. To learn more about opportunities available, visit www.joindarby1.org