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13, 2 0 1 7 | Halton police honour`unsung heroes' on 911 emergencycalls by Tim Whitnell Metroland West Media 24 www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE Halton Regional Police Service' s initial line of communication with the public is often through the 911 dispatcher. In observance of the work they do, every year during the second week in April telecommuni cations personnel in the public safety com m u nity are honoured across the country. Thats the cue for Halton police to recognize w hat it describes as the "unsung hero on the oth er end of the line," their 9-1-1 operators, whom they call the first, first responder. "W e could not operate or survive as a mod ern-day police service without the tremendous job that all of our communications staff do day in and day out," stated a Halton police press re lease. Although yet to be formally proclaimed in Canada, m any agencies consider April 9-15 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, a chance to reflect on the w ork done by communications bureau members. In 2 0 1 6 , Halton Regional Police' s com m u nications bureau answered m ore than 3 2 0 ,0 0 0 calls, almost 9 0 0 a day, of which 108,600, slight ly m ore than one-third, were received via 9-1-1. LAWN MOWERS E very H onda law n m o w e r fe a tu re s a re lia b le 4 -s tro k e e n g in e th a t delive rs s m o o th , q u ie t p e rfo rm a n ce . Plus, all H onda law n m o w e rs m e e t o r ^ exceed EPA (E n v iro n m e n ta l ' P ro te c tio n A g e n c y ) and C ARB (C a lifo rn ia A ir ' R esources B o a rd ) ~ em issions stan d ard s. -- ' STA RTIN G FROM $389 M S R PP L U S 'Freight, P .D .I., &H S T HRS SIDE-DISCHARGE HRS216PKC (firj Push-type, side discharge Heavy-duty 53 cm (21 in.) steel deck Easy starting with Auto Choke SystemTM (ACS) Mulching blade or optional QuadraCutTM twin-blade system H O N D A Power______ Equipment honda.ca f s e e c u r r e n t p o w e r i n c .c a CURRENTPOW ERMACHINERY 2624 ROYAL WINDSOR DRIVE, L5J 1K7 905-822-4211 "These calls ranged from the mundane to complete hys teria and tested the core skills of every operator within. Their pa tience, tempera m ent and ability to multi-task are unrivalled and represent a frac tion of the skill set needed to be a communicator," added the press release. In the majority of cases, police communicators are the first point of contact for the residents of Halton when it comes to an emergency they are experiencing. "W h en a 9-1-1 call is received, the call-taker immediately triages the information and enlists the services of the m ost appropriate emergency agency. W h en a life-threatening emergency is in volved, the bureau takes on the characteristics of a finely-tuned orchestra, working in concert to ensure resources are assigned to the crisis," said Staff-Sgt. Dave Cross, Halton police' s communi cations manager. He says m ost of the calls they deal with could be deemed `difficult' for various reasons. "A recent call received on 911 involved a hys terical, unintelligible female who was crying out in pain. W hile attempting to ascertain the prob lem, the caller disconnected," said Cross. "After several attempts to call the number back, the com m unicator was able to re-establish voice contact and learned the female was be ing threatened by a m an in her apartment. The phone got dropped, but the (9 1 1 ) call-taker was able to extract key pieces of information while overhearing their argument, (which) assisted at tending police in their investigation." Despite numerous public safety campaigns regarding the proper use of 9 11, Cross said the service still receives calls from the public asking for mundane, non-emergency reasons like the time of day, directions to an event or inadvertent pocket dials from a cellphone. "911 should be reserved for life-threaten ing emergencies or crimes in progress," Cross stressed. Halton police' s communications bureau has 6 0 full-time civilian members, seven temporaryas-required personnel, a full-time trainer and a dedicated 911 co-ordinator. It is managed by a uniformed Staff Sergeant and overseen by Dave McCartney, the Inspector of Support Services. The bureau' s personnel are eligible for various awards, including meritorious service and chief' s commendations. A live communications Q & A session on Twit ter (@HaltonPolice #telecommunicators) was held today (Thursday, April 13). BEAVER | Thursday, April BRITISH GROCER N ow O pen! Oakville's only British store The biggest & BEST selection of all your favorite British products and hand made, award winning butchery & bakery items in store! C H E C KO U TO U RN E W W E B SiT E ! mybritishgrocer.com Find all your favourites online! L ik e us on F a ce b o o k! Special offers & much more! facebook.com/britishgrocer Seniors D ay! 10% d i s c o u n t everytu esday D IR E C T FROM U.K! if you are over 60 ! 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