The City of Georgetown recognized and celebrated National Emergency Telecommunications Awareness Week with a proclamation and a special lifesaving award. Mayor Dale Ross acknowledged the compassion and professionalism demonstrated by operators who function as a vital link to firefighters, rescue and law enforcement personnel to help protect life and property on a daily basis. “Public safety telecommunicators are the first and most critical contact citizens have and because emergencies happen any time, this prompt response is vital to ensuring public safety.”
As a perfect example, Captain Evelyn McLean presenting a special Lifesaving Award to 911 operator Jennifer Templeton, who provided the clear and concise instruction for CPR that helped save the life of Jerry Peterson in February. Peterson was having a heart attack and his wife and sister were able to administer life-saving compressions until paramedics arrived. Peterson spent several days in ICU but is a survivor and continues to recover. McLean commented, “So often, the initial lifesaving actions go unnoticed. It’s rare that an operator is able to have closure for an emergency situation and fortunately this had a happy ending so we were thrilled to connect Larry and Jennifer and they had a wonderful reunion.”
Templeton felt humbled and said, “This was God’s rescue; He deserves the glory and I just got to be a part of it. It was a reward for me and I share this with my fellow operators because we all do this every day.”
