Online voting is now open for the 20 finalists in the third annual Smart Telecommunicator Awards. The public can now review the finalist submissions and vote online through April 4, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. These finalists have demonstrated leadership, performance, compassion for callers, ability to inspire co-workers and overall contributions to their Public Safety Answering Points.

The Smart Telecommunicator Awards were created to highlight the critical public safety role that telecommunicators play. It is conducted in partnership with the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies and the Denise Amber Lee Foundation. Smart911 will name a national winner and four regional honorees during National Telecommunicators Week (April 13-19). The national winner will receive a donation of $1,000 to the charity of his or her choice, while regional honorees will receive a $500 donation to the charity of their choosing. The nominees are:

Northeast Region

• Kevin Dozpat, Union County 9-1-1, Lewisburg, Penn.
• Susan Lachapelle, East Hartford Police Department, East Hartford, Conn.
• Garin Worth, Tewksbury Police Department, Tewksbury, Mass.
• David Wright, Albany County Sheriff’s Office, Voorheesville, N.Y.

Southeast Region

• Sandra Devita, Boca Raton 911, Boca Raton, Fla.
• Danielle Harvey, Dekalb County E-911 Communications, Tucker, Ga.
• Jeannie Miller, Middlesboro Police Department, Middlesboro, Ky.
• Daniel Raymond, Seminole County Department of Public Safety, Sanford, Fla.
• Angela Servey, High Point 911, High Point, N.C.

Central Region

• Sergio Aguayo FIRECOMM 9-1-1, Pharr, Texas
• Kristina Clark, Plymouth Township Police Department, Plymouth, Mich.
• Vicki Dorjath, Mundelein Police Department, Mundelein, Ill.
• Shane Sapp, Pop County 9-1-1, Russellville, Ark.
• Heidi Smith, Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, Waxahachie, Tex.

West Region

• Dan Ausec, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Springs, Colo.
• Jason Gacek, Henderson Police Department, Henderson, Nev.
• Becky McCracken, NORCOMM, Bellevue, Wash.
• Katlyn Mitchell, Flagstaff Police Department, Flagstaff, Ariz.
• Laura Randolph, Longmont Department of Public Safety, Longmont, Colo.

This year’s nominees illustrate the crucial services that 9-1-1 telecommunicators provide, their dedication and the stressful situations they encounter, such as being able to calmly and professionally instruct emergency rescue procedures to frantic callers, sometimes in multiple languages, according to program materials. These telecommunicators must be able to think quickly and critically and approach emergency situations with confidence.

_____________

_{To get connected and stay up-to-date with similar content from American City & County:
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Watch us on Youtube}