MPIGreg FaulkHardwick FlooringCannabisMarler Probate JudgeCherry & Irwin Personal Injury AttorneysDothan LivestockChris MaddoxGilley Mill Farms and HatcheryDothan Tree ExpertsDothan Tree ExpertsFarm Stores DothanCannabisSolomon ChevLast Call SpiritsDustin FowlerKennedy Land & TimberGoldin MetalsDothan Tree ExpertsLast Call SpiritsE&J Clean Up LLCThe PlantDothan PCTri State Parking LotRay Marler For Henry CountyCannabisDMGGilley Mill Farms and HatcheryFlowers HospitalKennedy HireCannabis




The True Most Important Ingredient of Emergency Services To Any Community

Rickey Stokes

Viewed: 3227

Posted by: RStokes
Date: Apr 17 2018 2:01 AM

DOTHAN - HOUSTON COUNTY:    Several months ago I went into the Dothan Communications Center because of bad weather. It was somewhere around 4 AM.


After a while a Dothan Senior Communications Officer came into the Emergency Management and summoned a Senior Communications Officer. She was in tears.


A call had come in through a third party where a person was making threats to kill his family. The Communications Center was unable to locate the address to the phone number. The service provider for that number was not being cooperative.


The communications officer had called in the lady in charge of entering the phone numbers and dealing with the communications providers. But no luck.


Through some extraordinary efforts a address was finally located. Officers were dispatched. The family was OK and the person was passed out on the couch asleep.


This goes to tell you the quality of the communications staff in Dothan - Houston County. But not just here but in the surrounding area and agencies.


When you hear a communications officer stepping callers through life saving efforts on the phone. Giving people CPR instructions while emergency units are rolling. Being counselors to callers who are afraid for their lives based on the nature of the call. The communications officers are those on the front line between the public and emergency responders.


Often times two to four people on duty to manage utter turmoil. Phones ringing, crisis situations, obtaining information in order to provide safety to the caller but also to obtain information so the emergency provider is prepared for safety of him or herself but also to the persons involved in the situation they are responding to.


The past week was National Telecommunicators Week. We should have done more to recognize the men and women in the communications centers.


Not in Dothan and Houston County, but in a lot of agencies the communications staff is the least taken care of, but yet they are the MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT in emergency services. It is the zeal, the intelligence, the diligence of these men and women in the 911 Centers that are the center of protection for the public and emergency responders.


The Dothan - Houston County Communications District Board consists of nine members: Dothan Police Chief Steve Parrish, Houston County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jeff Carlisle, Dothan Fire Chief Larry Wilkins ,Dothan General Services Director Randy Morris, Dothan - Houston County Emergency Management Director Chris Judah, Pilcher Ambulance Service Owner Joey Pilcher, Dothan Businessman Jason Rudd, Ashford Fire Chief Jimmy Posey, and myself Rickey Stokes. It has been my pleasure to serve as Chairman of the City of Dothan - Houston County Communications District Board.


On behalf of all emergency responders, on behalf of all of the citizens of Dothan - Houston County and the surrounding agencies, on behalf of the City of Dothan - Houston County Communications District Board, THANK YOU for your willingness to accept the stress, the responsibility, the task of being perhaps the most important part of the emergency service spectrum that serves the public.


YOU ARE TRUE PUBLIC SERVANTS that protect the public each and every second of the day and night.


Family First Funeral Home

<- back



Kennedy HireDothan Pest ControlGoldin MetalsNantze SideWiregrass ElectricDothan Tree ExpertsGilley Mill Farms and HatcheryCherry & Irwin Personal Injury AttorneysRay Marler For Henry CountyTri State Parking LotCannabisHarley DavidsonDothan Tree ExpertsMarler for Probate JudgeFarm Stores DothanGilley Mill Farms and HatcheryFun ZoneDothan Tree ExpertsGreg FaulkGoldin MetalsSolomon ChevDMGChris MaddoxLast Call SpiritsFerhguson Wrecker