Public safety software supports first responders across the country in keeping your community safer, facilitating the dispatch of appropriate personnel to emergencies, and keeping first responders (including police, fire, and EMS personnel) aware of dangers they may face. This makes public safety software, such as the computer-aided dispatch and records management software Caliber Public Safety provides, immensely important. But did you know that there is an entire week devoted to celebrating those who use public safety software?
According to NPSTW, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week happens during the second week of April to honor “the telecommunications personnel in the safety community.” Their page goes on to explain that the week-long event was founded in 1981 by Patricia Anderson of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in California. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week “is a time to celebrate and thank those who dedicate their lives to serving the public. It is a week that should be set aside so everyone can be made aware of their hard work and dedication. We encourage all of you to celebrate and honor yourselves, your co-workers, your bosses, and your employees. Host a party, reach out to your local media and public officials, or launch an awards program.”
As explained by CISA, “In 1994, President William J. Clinton signed Presidential Proclamation 6667, declaring the second week of April as NPSTW. This week is a time to celebrate and thank telecommunications personnel across the Nation who serve our communities, citizens, and public safety personnel 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To learn more about the history of NPSTW, visit NPSTW.org. 911 centers, including emergency communications centers (ECC), public safety answering points (PSAP), public safety communications centers (PSCC), emergency operations centers (EOC), and other public safety command centers, are a critical component of emergency communications and provide critical, life-saving emergency services to the public.”
As you can imagine, many of these organizations and their facilities make use of public safety software, including computer-aided dispatch and records management systems. Caliber’s public safety software is designed to support all First Responders in their mission to keep their communities safer while serving those within the community to the best of their ability. Telecommunications, and the telecommunicators who use public safety software within that context, is of course integral to computer aided-dispatch and all the records management and support software involved in this mission.
There likely won’t be any parades or other events where you are to support National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, but everyone involved, from your local 911 center to your local public safety and emergency operations centers, should give themselves a hand for the work that they do. Public safety software is the modern telecommunications infrastructure that connects first responders (including law enforcement and emergency personnel) to the communities they serve… while also watching their backs and giving them as much information as possible when they move forward into harm’s way.
