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ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: April 6, 2010 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. <br /> SUBJECT: Public Safety Telecommunications Week Proclamation <br /> DEPARTMENT: Emergency Services PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) INo <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Dinah L. Jeffries, 245-5100 <br /> Proclamation F. Rojas Montes de Oca, 245-0100 <br /> PURPOSE: To proclaim the week of April 11 through 17, 2010, as Public Safety <br /> Telecommunications Week in Orange County. <br /> BACKGROUND: Every year across the nation, the second full week of April is dedicated to the <br /> professional women and men who serve as public safety telecommunicators. First conceived by <br /> Patricia Anderson of the Contra Costa County (Calif.) Sheriffs Office in 1981, this practice was <br /> recognized by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) in what became H.J. Res. 284 to create <br /> "National Public Safety Telecommunications Week." With the continued efforts of the <br /> International Association of Public Safety Communications Officials and the National <br /> Emergency Number Association, the act to recognize public safety telecommunications became <br /> a permanent proclamation in 1994. <br /> Each day hundreds of orange county residents and those visiting the County rely on the <br /> expertise and dedication of public safety telecommunicators. These professionals help save <br /> countless lives by responding to emergency calls, dispatching law enforcement, fire and <br /> emergency medical personnel and equipment and providing support to the residents and <br /> visitors of this county. Their skills in high-pressure situations allow rapid emergency response, <br /> aid and compassion in times of great distress and critical decision-making within seconds. <br /> Orange county Communications is the primary answering point for all emergency and non- <br /> emergency service calls in the county. Orange County 9-1-1 Telecommunicators dispatched <br /> 187,000 calls for service, managed over 400,000 telephone calls and monitored and responded <br /> to over 3 million radio transmissions in 2009. The communications center operates twenty--four <br /> hours a day, seven days a week with a staff of twenty--six full time telecommunicators and three <br /> part-time telecommunicators. <br />