PoliceOne: Why 911 dispatchers should be considered first responders

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 defines the term “first responder” as “individuals who, in the early stages of an incident, are responsible for the protection and preservation of life, property, evidence, and the environment.” Who better, by this very definition, can be considered a first responder than the dispatcher who is the start of everything – from picking up the phone to creating the record in the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system with the very first keystroke to sending out the first wave of help – all while providing life-saving instructions. Dispatchers are the nucleus of any emergency event.

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