The City of Los Alamitos issued a proclamation at their regular meeting in April honoring public safety dispatchers and the Orange County Fire Authority in recognition of National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.
“Emergencies can occur at any time that may require police, fire or emergency medical services,” said Los Al Mayor Jordan Nefulda.
“The prompt response of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property,” he added. “Public safety dispatchers are the first and most critical contact our citizens have with emergency services,” he said.
Orange County Division 1 Fire Chief Craig Covey was on hand to thank many of the dispatchers present for “their extra hard work” in keeping the community safe.”
Covey said OCFA works seamlessly with WestComm, a joint powers authority that provides coordinated dispatching for Los Alamitos, Cypress, Seal Beach and the Orange County Park Rangers.
When calls come in regarding fire or emergency medical services, said Covey, they are seamlessly routed to the OCFA emergency operations center, which Covey said handles hundreds of thousands of calls each year.
“Our center last year handled 911 calls128,000 times, dispatched authorities to 178,000 emergencies, so it’s an incredibly busy center,” said Covey. He said they get 500 calls a day, noting also that they handle them on an average of 4 seconds, while the national average is 7 seconds.
Covey played a recording of one call when a 911 dispatcher calmly talked a caller through a medical procedure that ultimately saved a life. He said his mother was a 911 dispatcher for 20 years and praised all dispatchers’ ability to “maintain their composure” during some trying circumstances.
A spokesperson for WestComm said their call center processes emergency calls for police in Cypress, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos, along with Orange County Park Rangers.
“We serve 90,000 residents over a service area of 23 square miles,” the spokesperson for WestComm said.
Last year, WestComm handled more than 125,000 emergency calls, including 28,000 911 calls, handling more than 74,000 incidents.
“We are the lifeline for police officers providing vital information and support to ensure they can respond quickly and effectively to emergencies,” the spokesperson said.
“Thank all of you for what you do,” said Nefulda.
