South Western Oklahoma Development Authority (SWODA) and The Southwest Oklahoma Regional 9-1-1 Association (SWOR911) are celebrating the second full week of April (April 10-16) as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week to honor the thousands of men and women who respond to emergency calls, dispatch emergency professionals and equipment, and render life-saving assistance to the world’s citizens.
The SWOR911 region includes the counties of Beckham, Blaine, Custer, Harmon, Kiowa, Roger Mills, and Washita. These counties have 66 dispatchers who handled 33,500 calls in 2021.
Across the nation in times of intense personal crisis and community-wide disasters, the first access point for those seeking all classes of emergency services is 9-1-1. The local and county emergency commu nications centers receiving these calls have emerged as the first and single point of contact for persons seeking immediate relief during an emergency.
This week is sponsored by the Association of Public - Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International and celebrated annually.