It’s been a little over a year since the new Washington County Communications Center began operations, and in the past year it’s already proved its worth in different ways.

Safety was no concern for the dispatch staff in their tornado shelter-grade building when the December derecho came through Washington County, and Washington County Sheriff Chief Deputy Shawn Ellingson says they’ve hosted several agency trainings in the new building this past year that they weren’t able to previously. 911 Supervisor Cara Sorrells says having more dispatcher desks than in the previous center on West 2nd Street allows continuous response through shift changes, but like other local emergency response agencies Sorrells says they’ve had to work around staff shortages this past year. The 24-hours-a-day rotation can steer people away, but Sorrells says this job is great for those who work well with technology and enjoy the variety each day can bring. She shares some previous experiences that lend well to being a telecommunicator, “Waitressing, mothers, I mean because they’re doing different things, that’s a big part of it is the multitasking. And then you have to be compassionate, you have to be very patient and you have to be professional, so those kinds of things. And then now, technology, if you were doing something before where in fact, we have one person that was a phone call taker for a suicide hotline, that fits here perfect.”

You can hear more about the communications center from Sorrells, Ellingson, and Sheriff Jared Schneider during Tuesday’s edition of the KCII Public Safety Special Edition News Magazine at 1 and 6 p.m. on air and by visiting the On Demand page at kciiradio.com.