National Telecommunications Week is from April 14 to 20 recognizing the hard work of the men and women who are the first to answer when you dial 911.
“They may not be the first to respond to the scene but they’re the first point of contact and they’re the ones that are getting the ball rolling for Police or Fire,” Telecommunications Manager Jen Amendola said.
Chris Karjenka has been doing this work with the Greer Police Department for ten years.
“There’s no real standard day and 911,” Karjenka said.
And being a former police officer, he understands the importance of the job.
“We take the call the details and then we give it to the next dispatcher either Police or Fire,” Karjenka said.
But often, these employees don’t get the recognition they deserve.
“It takes someone very special someone who is strong and capable, and confident and hard-working and devoted like these guys are,” Amendola said.
Telecommunications Manager Jen Amendola knows how hard these dispatchers work.
“A sense of pride and sense of understanding because I’ve been there and I’ve done it and I know that what they’re doing is making a difference in the end,” she said.
“We’re hidden in a room people don’t really recognize that we are true first responders,” Karjenka said.
That’s why we want the community to take a moment to say thank you to the person on the other end of those difficult calls.
“Something to show the gratitude that we all feel for them for the hard work that they do just something special just to say thank you,” Amendola said.
The smallest gesture makes a big difference to those who work behind the scenes of emergency response
“When somebody send something in and they put a little note with it thank you for what you do. It reminds you that people recognize that we’re here and that we’re doing something important,” Karjenka said.