VDEM Celebrates National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
This update was published by
Published: April 8, 2022
Will host a series of special events April 10-16, 2022
RICHMOND—The Virginia Department of Emergency Management is pleased to honor telecommunicators across the commonwealth beginning Sunday, April 10, 2022. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (NPSTW), observed every second week in April, has been set aside to recognize and celebrate the work of telecommunicators helping to save millions of lives every day. Every day and night, public safety telecommunicators answer emergency and non-emergency calls. They connect callers to emergency care and provide valuable resources to those in need. If it weren’t for the telecommunicators flawlessly doing their jobs, many lives would have been lost due to untimely assistance. We encourage everyone to spend this week honoring and thanking those invisible voices on the other side of emergency calls who have continued to serve in this demanding profession.
To celebrate the commonwealth’s telecommunicators, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s 9-1-1 & Geospatial Services Bureau (NGSB) will be hosting several virtual events outlined below.
Monday, April 11th
- Kickoff (with special guest)
- 11:30 a.m.
- Internet Scavenger Hunt begins (watch for emails each providing the link to scavenger hunt questions)!
- Immediately following kickoff
Tuesday, April 12th
- Virtual Vendor Hall
- Spend an hour with one or all of the primary Call Handling Equipment (CHE) vendors in Virginia and AT&T EsiNet representative, Jimmy Litchenstein. Personnel from Motorola and WEST will provide an overview of their company, what services they offer, and discuss the latest releases applicable to your agency.
- 10:00 a.m. – Motorola Solutions
- When it’s time, Join the Meeting
- 12:00 p.m. – AT&T
- When it’s time, Join the Meeting
- 2:00 p.m. – INTRADO Public Safety
- When it’s time, Join the Meeting****
- 10:00 a.m. – Motorola Solutions
- Spend an hour with one or all of the primary Call Handling Equipment (CHE) vendors in Virginia and AT&T EsiNet representative, Jimmy Litchenstein. Personnel from Motorola and WEST will provide an overview of their company, what services they offer, and discuss the latest releases applicable to your agency.
Wednesday, April 13th
- Health, Wellness, Motivation, and Inspiration Webinar – It’s all about you!
- 2:00 p.m. – Join us for an awesome hour that is focused solely on our telecommunicators. Joining us is Tracy Eldredge with OnSceneFirst, Tracy Ertl with Hero Light, Jeremy DeMar with NGA 911, and Edie DeVilbiss with Shape Good Habits. These folks graciously accepted the invite to give back to our telecommunicators by providing tips and tricks, quotes and more to brighten your day
- When it’s time, Join the Meeting
- 2:00 p.m. – Join us for an awesome hour that is focused solely on our telecommunicators. Joining us is Tracy Eldredge with OnSceneFirst, Tracy Ertl with Hero Light, Jeremy DeMar with NGA 911, and Edie DeVilbiss with Shape Good Habits. These folks graciously accepted the invite to give back to our telecommunicators by providing tips and tricks, quotes and more to brighten your day
Thursday, April 14th
- 9-1-1 and Geospatial Service Bureau Regional Coordinator Forum
- 1:00 p.m. – During this webinar you will hear from your Regional Coordinators
- When it’s time, Join the Meeting****
- 1:00 p.m. – During this webinar you will hear from your Regional Coordinators
Friday, April 15th
- Prize Pack Giveaways
- 10:30 a.m. live
- When it’s time, Join the Meeting
- 10:30 a.m. live
For more on the history of NPSTW, please visit https://www.npstw.org/npstw-the-backstory/.
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Agency Contact
Lauren Opett
Director of Communications and Chief Agency Spokesperson