April 8 through April 14 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Carbon County.

On Thursday, the county commissioners adopted a proclamation, announcing that next week will honor the men and women who take 9-1-1 emergency calls and dispatch police, fire or emergency medical services personnel.The proclamation states, "Emergencies can occur at anytime requiring police, fire or emergency medical services. When an emergency occurs the prompt response of law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical services is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property. Public safety dispatchers for Carbon County, the unseen heroes of our local public safety agencies, are the first and most critical contact our citizens and visitors have with the emergency services."The safety of our police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel depends upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained from citizens and visitors who telephone the Carbon County Communications Center. Public safety dispatchers of Carbon County have contributed substantially to the apprehension of criminals, suppression of fires and treatment of patients."Each public safety dispatcher of Carbon County has exhibited compassion, understanding, and professionalism during the performance of their job in the past year. Therefore, be it resolved, that the Board of Commissioners of Carbon County declare the week of April 8 through 14 as 'National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week' in Carbon County, in honor of the men and women whose diligence and professionalism keep our county and its citizens and visitors safe."The board then presented the proclamation to Gary Williams, 911 director, and thanked him and his staff for a job well done.Williams thanked the commissioners for recognizing the dispatchers.He noted in 2011, the men and women who work at the 911 communications center handled 146,001 police, fire and EMS calls."They're busy up there," he said. "It's a very stressful job, but they do an excellent job."Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, then announced that in conjunction with the National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, the Carbon County 911 Communications Center will hold an open house on Saturday, April 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m."I strongly encourage the public to attend this and look at our communications center and see first-hand what our dispatchers do and what facilities they have available to them," he said. "Those jobs go from 0 to 100 in no time at all."Williams added that Pennstar and Medevac will be at the open house."Come see the state of the art facility," he said. "Everything is computerized. I encourage all to attend."The communication center is located on the Broad Mountain along Route 93 in Nesquehoning.