ROCKINGHAM — Members of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners are throwing their collective support behind a bill to reclassify the role of telecommunicators.
The board unanimously approved on Feb. 7 a resolution in favor of the 911 SAVES Act, which would reclassify 911 dispatchers from “Office and Administrative Support” to “Protective Service Occupations” in the Office of Management and Budget’s Standard Occupational Classification catalog, according to a press release from the office of Rep. Norma J. Torres, one of the bill’s main sponsors.
The resolution was brought to the board by Emergency Management Director Bob Smith.
Citing another board, Smith said, “I believe that 911 dispatchers and telecommunicators perform sophisticated, skilled, challenging work everyday. Their work requires not just tolerance for stress, but also specialized training, expertise and skills.”
But on most local, state and federal levels, Smith added, “work inside the 911 Center is considered nothing more than clerical or secretarial.”
The reclassification would give telecommunicators access to mental health benefits and resources “that they need,” according to Smith.
Smith brought with him to the meeting several telecommunicators from the Richmond County 911 Center who “answer these calls every day and deserve to be recognized as the life-saving first responders that they are.”
Smith also provided commissioners with resolutions and letters of support from the Derby Volunteer Fire Department, Hamlet Fire and Rescue, Rockingham Police Department and FirstHealth EMS.
“Telecommunicators are the front line, the voice that carries many of my officers through their shift and have the immense pressure of listening out for and checking in on every one of my officers day in and day out,” RPD Chief George Gillenwater said in his letter. “Telecommunicators carry the same burden and stress that my officers carry, and I hope that you recognize these brave men and women for their efforts, and do their profession justice, by classifying them as a Protected Service Occupation.”
FirstHealth EMS Director Buddy Williams said in his letter that he has worked with trained telecommunicators and someone just answering the phone.
“I prefer the trained personnel over a receptionist,” Williams said.
Torres, D-California, and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania, the other main sponsor, originally introduced a version of the bill in 2017.
Congressional records show the bill had 130 co-sponsors, including Reps. Ted Budd and Deborah K. Ross. Budd has since been elected to the Senate to replace Richard Burr. Burr had introduced a similar bill in the Senate in 2021.
“It’s a long time coming,” said Commissioner Andy Grooms. “I’ve toured the facility over there … and you guys do a great job. Sitting there with six or eight screens in front of you, taking calls. It was really a shock to me it wasn’t like that already.”
Commissioner Dr. Rick Watkins followed up by thanking the telecommunicators who were there, adding that the county’s 911 Center is one of the most technologically advanced in the state and nation, with the ability to handle calls from other parts of the state in emergency situations.
Watkins also encouraged residents to tour the center.
“It is amazing to go in that facility and see the work that’s going on there every day,” Watkins said. “I think it’s something that all of Richmond County should take pride in and that we have that here taking care of us every day.”
Smith said that garnering local support was kicked off a few months ago in Guilford County, and that Richmond County would be the third in the state to have a local resolution.
The goal, he added, is to have resolutions from all 100 counties forwarded to state delegates in the General Assembly “so the state can recognize them as public safety,” and then move to the federal level.
“These folks go through tremendous amounts of training and I just feel like they are at a point now where they should be recognized no different than our law enforcement, EMS and fire personnel are,” Smith added.
Earlier in the meeting, the board approved a resolution to close a 50-foot section of Watson Street, and set the date for the Board of Equalization and Review to hear property appeals at 3:30 p.m. April 3.
The following board appointments were also approved:
- Lumber River Council of Governments – Commissioner Toni Maples
- Richmond County Aging Services Advisory Board – Commissioner Robin Roberts
- Juvenile Crime Prevention Council Board – Commissioner Jason Gainey
- Richmond County Water Committee – Grooms, Gainey and Watkins