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Kelowna
2025-04-17 11:10 PDT
The Kelowna RCMP is celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, honouring hundreds of dedicated employees who respond to emergency calls and dispatch RCMP members to a police call.
This year’s theme is: Help is a call away.
Help is a call away.
Rhonda Smith has answered thousands upon thousands of calls as a 911 Police Dispatcher since 2007 and has assisted in helping countless people over her 18-year career. Today, she not only answers 911 calls, but she is also a Recruiter for BC RCMP 911 Police Dispatchers, finding the next generation of friendly voices on the other end of the phone.
Prior to becoming a 911 Police Dispatcher, Rhonda worked in the banking world, but it wasn’t quite meeting her needs. Working in the financial services field, I would leave work every day feeling stressed and unfulfilled, she says. I decided that I needed to feel like I was helping people so I found a volunteer job with the Crisis Line and was volunteering after work and on weekends. The Crisis Line brought us to the 911 Police Dispatch Centre for a tour one evening and in that moment, I knew I had found the career that would proverbially ‘fill my cup.’ So, I applied the very next day and have not looked back since.
Working in the financial services field, I would leave work every day feeling stressed and unfulfilled,
I decided that I needed to feel like I was helping people so I found a volunteer job with the Crisis Line and was volunteering after work and on weekends. The Crisis Line brought us to the 911 Police Dispatch Centre for a tour one evening and in that moment, I knew I had found the career that would proverbially ‘fill my cup.’ So, I applied the very next day and have not looked back since.
Incredibly the Dispatch Centre answers 911 and non-emergency calls for police services for 43 different detachments and specialty units in the Southeastern portion of the province. They receive and process emergency and non-emergency calls from the public, and request for assistance from Fire Departments, BC Ambulance Service, Search and Rescue, and other first responder agencies.
911 Police Dispatchers are the first of the first responders, Rhonda says. We serve as the critical link between the public and the emergency help they require. We are the lifeline between people in critical, and sometimes dangerous situations, and the help they need. We talk people through the worst day of their lives and despite the panic ringing in the phone lines, we know we have to remain calm in the most dire of situations. It takes a special kind of person to want to be involved in another person’s crisis.
first of the first responders,
We serve as the critical link between the public and the emergency help they require. We are the lifeline between people in critical, and sometimes dangerous situations, and the help they need. We talk people through the worst day of their lives and despite the panic ringing in the phone lines, we know we have to remain calm in the most dire of situations. It takes a special kind of person to want to be involved in another person’s crisis.
During a typical 12-hour shift, the team of dispatchers can answer upwards of 1000 calls depending on the season. It seems like the summer season has a bit of a higher call volume. Dispatchers take a range from non-emergency administrative calls such as reporting lost or stolen property to emergency calls for service for robberies, domestic violence and other criminal offences.
The friendly, calm voice on the other end of the line is an invaluable person not only to those calling, but to police officers as well. As Rhonda says, dispatchers are an absolute lifeline for a person who could be experiencing the worst day of their life. There is no better time to thank and honour these incredible people then during National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. Thank you, Rhonda and the over 150 positions in the Dispatch Centre.
If you are interested in becoming a 911 Police Dispatcher email E_911Recruiting_SED@rcmp-grc.gc.ca to begin your journey today. Help is a call away!
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Email: Kelowna_Media@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
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