CAPCOG honored emergency telecommunicators serving the 10-county region during National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week (NPSTW), April 13 through 19, 2025, joining several local jurisdictions and Governor Greg Abbott in recognizing their endless hard work and dedication to Texas communities.
“The work of emergency telecommunicators is demanding but vital to public safety, and often goes unnoticed,” said Pamela Frisk, CAPCOG 9-1-1 training and outreach coordinator. “They are the lifeline between the public and emergency responders, answering calls for help, providing life-saving instructions, and dispatching police, fire, and medical personnel.”
Local jurisdictions are served by more than 850 emergency telecommunicators at 27 public safety answering points. They provide 24/7 coverage of a high-stakes, quick decision-making job that requires great communication and technical skills, and they answer more than 1.7 million 9-1-1 calls per year regionwide. Those calls can be traumatic and may include deaths, violent crimes, structure fires, and children in distress which can be emotionally fatiguing, but answering them also means saving lives.
CAPCOG presented each telecommunicator with a gift to help them decompress while away from their headset, but it also signifies their importance to our communities. The CAPCOG Executive Committee recognized the week with a proclamation along with the governor and other local governments. Other jurisdictions also conducted award and recognition ceremonies, ran public awareness campaigns, hosted parties, and treated telecommunicators to lunch.
“NPSTW is a great week to show our deep appreciation and thanks to 9-1-1 telecommunicators but recognizing them shouldn’t be limited,” Frisk said. “They deserve our support 24/7, just like they support us.”
