Despite regular training for a wide range of 911 call scenarios, dispatchers can’t be prepared for everything.

April 11-17 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Washington County Dispatcher Sean Salemink has been on the job for just eight months and he’s already found himself in one particularly challenging situation, “I was the sole dispatcher working with the house explosion last year in town. I was definitely not prepared for something like that. I had known protocols that were very similar, but trying to piece that all together was definitely difficult.”

Salemink, who is also a reserve sheriff’s deputy, says that background can be useful as a dispatcher because he can have an idea of what the officer might be experiencing out in the field. He says he became a dispatcher to help and serve people in the community. This is the first year Washington County is celebrating Telecommunicators Week in their new communications center, with 11 dispatchers that provide over 150 years of experience.

The dispatch staff includes Cara Sorrells (Supervisor), Teresa Todd (Assistant Supervisor), Sandy Lovetinsky, Melanie Huschka, Issak Kleese, Shelley Reed-Wulf, Brittany Stutzman, Hunter Erwin, Delainey Parish, Sean Salemink and Riley Thomann.