Orange County Emergency Communications Center Receives Award
By Holly Williams, Communications Supervisor, Orange County Emergency Communications Center
Orange County Emergency Communications Center team members recently attended the Virginia State Chapter of the Association of Public - Safety Communications (APCO) Fall Conference in Roanoke, Virginia. The conference provides training sessions and opportunities to learn about new technology.
Orange County Emergency Communications Center Director Chris Cord was installed as President of the state chapter at the conference. Last year, Director Cord served on the board as the president - elect. Chapter members elected Supervisor Holly Williams, the current treasurer of the chapter, to serve as the new Vice President. Communications Officer Peggy Helmick remained as a director - at - large of the chapter. All three (3) were sworn in during the conference ’ s closing ceremonies.
In addition to the election of officers, Communications Training Officer (CTO) Jeremy Brown and Supervisor Williams presented a class on “ Mentoring Tomorrow ’ s 9 - 1 - 1 Leaders, ” during the conference training sessions. They spoke in the Washington Lecture Hall to about 50 attendees on growing leaders within communications centers, helping new communications officers find their footing and start down a career path in the 9 - 1 - 1 industry, and how to be a better mentor or coach. Jeremy Brown and Holly Williams
The Orange County Emergency Communications A - Team was awarded Team of the Year for Virginia APCO. The A - Team was nominated for the award in recognition of their handling of a difficult call in June of 2020, including the teamwork that went into working the call. The original caller was in another jurisdiction bordering Orange County, but refused to be transferred to that jurisdiction. For an hour, CTO Brown remained on the line with the caller while another team member relayed information as it was happening to the neighboring jurisdiction so that help could reach the caller. The remaining communications officer and supervisor had to manage all working radio channels and the other phone lines by themselves during that time. The team worked so well together that responders in the
L to R - Chris Cord, Emergency Communications Center (ECC) Director; Peggy Helmick, Communications Officer; Holly Williams, Communications Supervisor; and Jeremy Brown, Communications Training Officer.
field and citizens did not notice any disruption in service. All calls were still answered on the first ring, and responders were dispatched normally. It was an outstanding team effort and was deserving of the nomination and award. CTO Brown and Supervisor Williams were present to accept the award.
Orange County Emergency Communications is proud to have dedicated team members willing to go above and beyond for all 9 - 1 - 1 callers and responders to ensure quality service is delivered. We thank them for their dedication to the citizens and responders of Orange County.
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