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PARKERSBURG -- The Wood and Wirt County 911 Center recently recognized outstanding performances by its employees over the last two years, after the awards for 2019 were postponed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,
The 2019 Dispatcher of the Year was two-year veteran Sammy Scalise, while four-year employee Alisha Gallagher took the honor for 2020. The recipients are chosen by the dispatcher staff.
"They recognize the efforts that they put in with the hours that they work, the coverage that's needed at a crucial time," said Bill Riffle, communications coordinator for the 911 Center. "They seem to step up to the plate a little more often."
Scalise is a part-time public safety telecommunicator, floating to work with every shift and picking up how each operates, Riffle said.
Gallagher works well with the other shifts and stepped into an assistant supervisor role when the position needed filled, he said.
The center received 189,982 calls in 2019 and dispatched responders on 110,612. The average answering time was 5.4 seconds, compared to the national standard of 10 seconds.
No one at the center answered more calls that year than Public Safety Telecommunicator Lee Alltop with 4,171. At 3 seconds, Public Safety Telecommunicator Kylie Pickens had the best average call-answering time for those picking up a minimum of 1,000.
The number of calls coming into the center was down to 166,357 in 2020, with 95,636 dispatched. The average answering time was 5.7 seconds.
Riffle said the decrease can likely be attributed to the pandemic.
"Ever since I've been here, since 1999, there's always been an increase until last year," he said.
Public Safety Telecommunicator Rachael Deem answered the most calls in 2020, with 4,459. Pickens again had the lowest average answering time at 3 seconds, tied by Public Safety Telecommunicator Ethan Spencer.
Alltop, Supervisor Jason Kuhl, Assistant Supervisor Barbara Kuhl and Public Safety Telecommunicator Sara Stalnaker were recognized with a life-saving award for their response to a 2019 incident in which an employee of a business in Washington, W.Va., had a limb severed. Thanks to their teamwork with the emergency responders, the individual's life and limb were saved, Riffle said.
"They all are certified in emergency medical dispatch, which allows (them to give) the pre-arrival instructions before the first-responders come," he said.
Assistant Supervisor Dustin Matheny was recognized with a new technology award for his proficiency with numbered key pads the center added in 2019. They allow dispatchers to answer calls faster and are handier than using a computer mouse, Riffle said.
"It knocked off probably a second or second-and-a-half off our call answering time," he said.
Barbara Kuhl and Public Safety Telecommunicator Hannah Grogg were recognized for bringing Rapid SOS technology to officials' attention after learning about it at a training conference. Riffle said the center adopted the technology in 2019, allowing them to pull GPS data and other information off of cell phones and smart devices to determine a caller's location.
"It allows us to pinpoint the person even more accurately than what the wireless companies provide" with cell towers, Riffle said.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.