Thank a Greenwich Dispatcher -- It's National Telecommunicator Week

Photos: Greenwich emergency dispatcher Juan Agudelo; dispatchers Jules Blight and Steve Bozzuto. Credit: Barbara Heins.

Whenever someone dials 9-1-1, it’s in a panic … there’s been an accident. There’s a fire, perhaps an assault or a robbery.

Very few know about the people, who with their measured voices, calmly answer those panicked calls 24 hours a day seven days a week.

In Greenwich there are 16 professional dispatchers or telecommunicators who answer the phones and then assign police, fire and emergency medical personnel to help those in need.

This week is National Telecommunicator Week and to recognize the work these dedicated men and women perform around the clock, Patch spoke to a few of them.

Most Greenwich dispatchers have a backgrounds in public safety.

Juan Agudelo is a three-year veteran of the Emergency Dispatch Center located in the Greenwich Police headquarters where there usually are four dispatchers assigned each shift. He’s been volunteering as a firefighter in Port Chester for years. “I like to give back to the community and this is a way to do it.”

“Every scenario is different. Every call is different. It can be a routine call on a parking complaint. It can be a call on a kid choking or a bank robbery. You have to take it one call at a time,” Agudelo said.

One afternoon this week, it was relatively quiet. But that can change when the next phone call comes in, said Agudelo as he sat before a mosaic of computer screens, each vital to the job.

“With a structure fire, you can be getting several 911 calls. Calls that people are trapped, or there’s a disabled person in the building. You have to step up to the plate. You have to get the exact information to be able to communicate it and dispatch fire, medical and police,” Agudelo explained. “We’re the primary communicators with the public.”

Jules Blight credits her father for her interest in becoming a dispatcher nearly nine years ago. Her father is retired Greenwich Police Lt. Arthur Blight. She also had plenty of experience with the dispatchers from her stint as a volunteer firefighter with the Glenville Fire Department in the western end of town.

“It’s rewarding knowing that you help save somebody on the phone … that you’re able to assist them, giving instructions on how to help someone” until ambulance personnel arrive, said Steve Bozzuto, who’s been a dispatcher for nearly 9 ½ years.

What’s most challenging for the tele communicators?

“Mostly it’s getting people to pinpoint their exact location,” said Bozzuto who has been involved in public safety in Greenwich for 30 years as a volunteer firefighter (including 10 years as chief of the Amogerone Fire Co.) and a special police officer.

“You’re trying to get all of the information you can, so you can give it to the officers on the road. You have people calling from I-95. They’re not from town and they don’t know where they are. They tell you they’re between exits 2 and 3 and they’re actually between exits 4 and 5,” Bozzuto explained.

The Emergency Dispatch Center also is a vital link for the police hotline that connects Westchester County and Connecticut.

“Because we’re a border town, we liaison with Connecticut and New York agencies,” Agudelo said.

In addition to the emergency services radio system, the dispatchers also are responsible for monitoring and communicating with hundreds of town employees who use the radio systems for various departments including the Parks and Recreation and Public Works departments — a system that is essential and becomes extremely busy during storms.

In commemoration of National Telecommunicator Week, Greenwich Police posted on their Facebook page, “The Town of Greenwich is fortunate to have truly professional and caring members of the public safety team. These men and women are the unseen and unsung heroes of emergency services and we all owe them a thank you.”

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