Georgetown, Del., March 24, 2009: Sussex County’s Emergency Operations Center director and nine dispatchers have earned honors from a regional organization for their efforts to help the public when seconds count.
The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials Mid-Eastern Chapter next month will honor EOC Director Joseph L. Thomas and members of his staff for their work the past year, from opening a state-of-the-art 911 center to maintaining their professionalism and composure in the hours after a paramedic was killed in the line of duty.
Mr. Thomas has been named the APCO Mid-Eastern Chapter’s 2008 Center Manager of the Year for Delaware. Mr. Thomas, who has served as director of the 911 center and EOC since 1997, was nominated by EOC employee Debra Jones for his leadership in two roles, as chief dispatcher and EOC director, and for steering major projects, including the April 2008 opening of the County’s new 911 center.
In her nominating application, Ms. Jones also praised Mr. Thomas for being a team player, citing as an example his willingness to take emergency calls and dispatch fire and ambulance crews when the 911 center is short-staffed or overrun with calls.
County Administrator David B. Baker said the staff is deserving of the recognition. “Too often, the public doesn’t get the opportunity to see these individuals at work. Theirs are the voices we hear when we call 911,” Mr. Baker said. “While they may go unseen, their work certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. There’s no question Joe and his team are dedicated public servants worthy of these honors, and we applaud them.”
Additionally, two different dispatch shifts and an individual call-taker have earned honors for their work in different events:
- Joseph Pepper, Steven Deery, Jason Boyce and Jason Faulkner won Unit Citation of the Year for Delaware for their work in the hours after County Paramedic Stephanie Callaway was killed while on an emergency call in June 2008. They covered shifts, helped to organize the medic’s funeral, and allowed the 911 center to maintain normal operations;
- Chris Moore, Bob Parson, Lillie Fitzgerald and Earl Chaffinch were selected as a runner-up group in the same category. They were nominated for their work in responding to a mass-casualty vehicle accident in Bridgeville earlier this year;
- Call-taker Charles Stevenson IV was selected as a runner-up for Telecommunicator of the Year for his efforts to calmly lead a concerned, out-of-town couple back to their daughter who was lost in Sussex County.
Mr. Thomas and the dispatchers will be recognized at the APCO Mid-Eastern Chapter's spring meeting and awards luncheon April 16 at the Elks Lodge in Dover, Del.
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