Celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Appreciation Week
Spotlighting Pine Belt dispatchers
Celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Appreciation Week
By Melissa Rademaker | April 14, 2021 at 6:29 PM CDT - Updated April 14 at 6:29 PM
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - This week is National Public Safety Telecommunications Week 2021, which celebrates dispatchers who often provide life-saving help behind the scenes during emergencies.
Dispatchers can work for a range of services like fire departments, police or sheriff’s departments, transportation companies and emergency medical care.
At the AAA Ambulance Service call center in Hattiesburg, Ted Lightsey is a dispatcher with more than 25 years of experience.
“On average around 160 911 calls, that’s the emergency calls, and then each dispatcher probably answers about 40 of those give or take,” Lightsey said of the typical dispatcher shift.