LAURA JAMESON/THE EXPRESS Chris Rupert, shift supervisor at Clinton County’s 911 center, works at his station in the center.

LAURA JAMESON/THE EXPRESS
Clinton County 911 Dispatchers are pictured with commissioners Angela Harding, Miles Kessinger and Jeff Snyder following their proclamation of April 11-17 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators week. They are, from left, Chris Rupert, Josh McGill, Derek Hoover and Arianna Warnagiris. At far right is Clinton County’s director of emergency services Andrew Kremser.

LOCK HAVEN — You don’t know their names, couldn’t recognize their faces while walking down the street. But, if you’ve ever been faced with an emergency, you’ve heard their voices.

Clinton County’s 911 dispatchers are often the unsung heroes of emergency personnel. Offering a life line … a tether to reality when faced with life altering situations. The job isn’t easy as these men and women assist county residents through their worst days. But they’re proud to do so.

On Thursday, the county commissioners honored these individuals by proclaiming April 11-17 National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

“Public Safety Telecommunicators are the single vital link for our police officers and firefighters by monitoring their activities by radio, providing them information and ensuring their safety. (They) have contributed substantially to the apprehension of criminals, suppression of fires and treatment of patients,” Commissioner Angela Harding read from the proclamation. “Each dispatcher has exhibited compassion, understanding and professionalism during the performance of their job in the past year and years prior.”

Andrew Kremser, director of the county’s department of emergency services, offered his own thanks to the staff — many of whom were able to attend the meeting.

“These are Clinton County’s faceless heroes, the calm voice at the other end of the phone when someone calls with an emergency. They work holidays, weekends and long shifts away from their families to ensure the citizens of Clinton County get the help they need during an emergency,” Kremser said.

Kremser said dispatchers have coached people through CPR, given instructions on how to deliver babies and talked people down from suicide on multiple occasions while directing firefighters, EMS and law enforcement personnel.

“I want to thank all of you for your commitment, dedication and your sacrifice,” he said. “Most importantly I want to thank you for your service to our community.”

Each commissioner offered their own thanks, for themselves and the residents of Clinton County.

“I know your faces aren’t out there. But your voice are. On behalf of the citizens of Clinton County, we thank you. It’s a very, very important job and I think it goes unnoticed most of the time,” Board Chair Miles Kessinger said.

Harding offered recent statistics regarding the county’s emergency dispatch.

“Since January 2022, our dispatchers here in Clinton County have taken approximately 20 suicide calls. They’ve taken 65 domestic violence calls. Their job is not easy and we thank them,” she said.

Commissioner Jeff Snyder noted that the board spent time at the dispatch center to get a better idea of what the job entails.

“The commissioners have all taken time to go up to the center and sit beside the dispatcher to realize how complicated the job is. We had a better understanding of the job that you have, and we have a greater appreciation for what you do,” he said. “We certainly appreciate, on behalf of the citizens of the county, what you do.”

Dispatchers who attended the meeting were back to work soon after the meeting ended.

Many of who find themselves in the department, had already been a part of the emergency service field.

Chris Rupert, shift supervisor, said the department of 10 is split between two 12 hour shifts — one from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and another from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Rupert, who’s been working full-time for the department since 2009, entered emergency response as a teenager.

“I started as a junior (fire fighter) at age 14. I took my EMT class and continued to maintain volunteer status (over the years),” he said.

Rupert started at the county’s dispatch department on a part-time basis before becoming full-time.

“I applied here part-time because I was interested in public safety and helping the community,” he said. “I went into a full-time position in 2009 and its been 15 years already.”

Rupert said the job has a lot of behind the scenes work, beyond just answering phone calls. This includes follow up calls and ensuring all loose ends may be tied up with response personnel.

“There’s a lot of training involved where we update current standards with technology and learn new things about how to deal with police emergencies, fire emergencies and ambulance calls,” he said.

Rupert encourages members of the community to not be afraid to contact 911 during an emergency.

“We’re always here for anyone in need. Don’t feel embarrassed, we’re here to help. When you call 911 it’s your worst time of the day … get the help that you need,” he said.

911 dispatcher, Derek Hoover, has worked for the department five years. “I’ve always been involved with emergency services and I wanted to try something different,” he said.

Hoover said the job is a tough one but is extremely crucial.

“It’s definitely a stressful job (with) a lot of long hours. We work a lot of holidays, weekends and a lot of time is spent away from our families,” he said.

Kremser said it takes the right individual for the job.

“Because you don’t know what that call is going to be. As I mentioned earlier (Thursday), dispatchers will take anything from ‘hey, I’m driving down the road and there’s a tree laying across a lane’ to ‘I found a loved one unresponsive in their chair,'” he said.

Kremser went on to say that many dispatchers have had to take countless suicide calls. “We’ve actually had dispatchers take calls that resulted in the person on the other end of the phone call taking their last breath,” he said. “As Derek mentioned, it is a very stressful job.”

Kremser said dispatchers are the part of emergency service that often goes unnoticed but is extremely crucial.

“This is the part of emergency services and public safety that you don’t see out face to face,” he said.

The department currently has 10 dispatchers — two still in training, with the ability to have 13 on staff.