A Vancouver Island RCMP officer says recognizing those who take 911 calls is extremely important.
This week is National Public Safety Telecommunications week, a week dedicated to recognizing the telecommunicators who answer emergency calls across the country.
Constable Maury Tyre says they are amazing human beings.
“They are dealing with some of the most traumatic instances you can imagine in people’s lives at a distance and a lot of times they are able to calm things down and de-escalate them,” said Tyre.
“To have a week that’s dedicated to honoring these people is so important.”
Tyre says what makes them valuable to the public is that people can call them 24/7, with the same telecommunicators also responding to calls after hours.
He also says this week isn’t just for RCMP dispatchers, but also for fire and ambulance.
“The hard part that not a lot of people don’t necessarily realize is they will deal things up until the police are there and once they are there, they move onto the next call,” said Tyre.
“So, a lot of times they are dealing with a very frenetic scenario or incident, and they don’t necessarily get to know what the outcome is at the end and that can have an effect of them.”
He says through putting themselves out there and putting the public first, they do deserve to be honored.
He adds when you do call 911, it is important for you to answer the questions the callers and dispatchers give you so they can better prepare for the situation.
The week runs until Saturday April 20.
