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National Organizations Join Effort to Celebrate National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week with Tree of Life

Published Apr 2022

This year marks 41 years of celebrating our nation’s telecommunicators—the public safety community’s first first responders. The gatekeepers to the 911 system who skillfully and compassionately support 911 callers while simultaneously sending emergency responders to their aid. Those who protect the lives of both the callers and the responders by providing critical information for situational awareness.

The job is already challenging by nature but has been particularly so the last two years as communities have faced an ongoing pandemic, an unprecedented number of natural disasters, and civil unrest. Navigating these obstacles in addition to the regular challenges of the telecommunicator role make it even more important to celebrate National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, April 10-16, this year.

A number of efforts and resources supported by the National 911 Program have been developed and are planned to honor the telecommunicator community’s hard work:


  • “NG911 for Telecommunicators” is a 911 Program publication written from the telecommunicator’s perspective to help you understand Next Generation 911 (NG911). It describes how NG911 will change the 911 system, what to expect, and how you can get involved with the updates.

  • An article discussing the prioritization of telecommunicators’ physical and mental health is also included in “NG911 for Telecommunicators.” The piece provides guidance on how 911 professionals and ECCs/PSAPs can improve their self-care practices.

  • Resources that can be used by ECCs/PSAPs to make progress toward reclassification . Reclassifying telecommunicators to the “protective service occupation” would provide them with acknowledgment of the role of responder. While the 911 Program, as a federal agency, cannot lobby to support this effort, it continues to collaborate with federal partners and provide resources to help the 911 community advocate for the profession.

  • The “911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life” is a joint effort between the National 911 Program and a number of 911 industry organizations to honor and celebrate the individuals who serve each day. Visit the 911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life to share an inspiring story recognizing a telecommunicator you know.


The following activities are underway by the organizations below that support the 911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life:


911der Women Foundation
             The 2nd Annual 91RUNDERWOMEN virtual 5K to benefit the 911der Women Foundation will take place April 7-10. Get your centers and companies involved and support each other through this challenge. Come together and do something for your mental and physical health while supporting our dispatchers!

Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
             CISA is recognizing April as Emergency Communications Month. During the month, CISA will highlight how emergency communications fits into CISA’s mission, share resources, tools, and services to support the public safety and emergency communications community, and recognize the important work being carried out by stakeholders. During the second week of April, CISA will celebrate National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week by recognizing our nation’s telecommunicators and sharing CISA initiatives to support the 911 community. Throughout the month, CISA will host events and highlight available CISA resources to celebrate, including product releases and video announcements, fireside chats, and blog posts from CISA leadership. For more information visit Emergency Communications Month and National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We encourage others to join CISA in celebrating Emergency Communications Month and National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week to recognize the hard work and dedication of our nation’s public safety and emergency communications personnel. 

International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED)
             IAED is supporting National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week by promoting the week on social media, sharing social media assets with 911 agencies, and sending appreciation posters to every PSAP in the nation. The article “911 Tree of Life Tapestry” was featured on the Journal of Emergency Dispatch magazine website and will be the focus of an episode for the Dispatch in Depth podcast.

National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA)
              NASNA members will play a key role in supporting National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week by providing the 911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life information to their members and updating information on the Know911.org website.

National Emergency Number Association (NENA)
              NENA is supporting National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week by encouraging contributions to the 911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life and by sharing messages of support and gratitude from 9-1-1 leaders and celebrities on Facebook and Twitter social media channels.

Marine Corps Installations Command (MCICOM)
             MCICOM has National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week projects planned at several of their bases and has submitted nine public safety telecommunicator write-ups for inclusion on the 911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life. They will also present a public safety telecommunicator with a letter of recognition signed by MCICOM’s Commanding General.
             A promotional toolkit has been posted as a resource on Ready Marine Corps in the Trending Now section, and they will publish multiple posts throughout April on Facebook and Twitter that promote 911 education and highlight National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. They have also generated a kiosk ad focusing on the week to be posted around the National Capital Region, and a press release encouraging the community to participate in the 911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life project.

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
             The DoD will hold a public safety communications symposium April 26-28 in Baltimore, MD, in conjunction with TechNetCyber. They plan to present a letter to a PSAP operator from Fort Meade representing the 3,100 DoD PSAP operators at the symposium. The DoD is also collecting positive stories to share with the 911 Telecommunicator Tree of Life.

To learn more about this year’s National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, visit https://www.npstw.org and the organizations listed above.