Today marks the start of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

In Michigan, 911 centers serve as the primary point for dispatching police, fire, and EMS responses.

Certified 911 telecommunicators in Michigan must complete at least 80 hours of basic and advanced dispatch training within their first 24 months of employment, maintain continuing education requirements by participating in approved courses, and accumulate at least 24 continuing education hours every 24 months.

In addition to answering and dispatching emergency calls, telecommunicators also provide pre-arrival instructions for police, fire, and medical calls, activate weather alerts, coordinate additional incident scene response such as medical examiners, child protective services, hospitals, road commission, utility and public works department notifications, callouts for specialized response teams such as search and rescue, SWAT, negotiating teams, and hazmat response teams.

Telecommunicators receive calls through many different 911 dialing systems including wireless, land-line telephones, Voice Over the Internet Protocol , smart devices, and text messages.

Today there are 135 primary Public Safety Answering Points in Michigan.

There are approximately 2,200 telecommunicators in Michigan.