METCAD 9-1-1 is celebrating April 11-17, 2021, as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. This week, sponsored by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International is celebrated annually and 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. In 2020, the METCAD 9-1-1 Dispatch Center answered more than 214,000 telephone calls and dispatched emergency services for more than 99,000 incidents. METCAD 9-1-1 handles emergency dispatching for the cities of Champaign, Urbana, and Rantoul, all of Champaign County (including all rural areas), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“I am extremely proud of our dispatchers who work tirelessly to be there for the public and provide public safety support 24 hours a day,” said METCAD Director Ralph Caldwell. “They are skilled, highly-trained professionals who remain calm and patient in the peak of extreme circumstances.”
Thirty-three dispatchers work at the METCAD 9-1-1 Dispatch Center, which manages and coordinates support for police responses, structure fires, vehicle accidents, hazmat incidents, and medical emergencies. Whether on the phone with community members or on the radio with firefighters, police officers, or EMTs, dispatchers remain calm during every storm.
National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week was initially set up in 1981 by Patricia Anderson of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s office in California. Each year, the second full week of April is dedicated to the men and women who serve as public safety telecommunicators.
For more information about METCAD 9-1-1, please contact our administrative offices at 217-333-4348 or visit our website – metcad911.org.