Ed Markey: “I rise in support of Senate Joint Resolution 56, to designate the week of April 11, 1994, as ``National Public Safety…”

“I rise in support of Senate Joint Resolution 56, to designate the week of April 11, 1994, as ``National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.'' I am pleased to announce today that 224 of my colleagues join me in support of this resolution to recognize the thousands of public safety officers and employees whose job it is to coordinate, dispatch, and facilitate the execution of law enforcement and emergency response activities in all of our districts. Each day, Americans place over one million calls to 911 services. That one million is multiplied two to three fold in instances of emergency. The natural disasters that swept the United States this past year, from the floods in the Midwest, to the brush fires and the earthquake in California, to the blizzards that flailed the northeast, commanded the conscientious efforts of the public safety workers more than ever. In order for emergency services to respond promptly, public safety telecommunicators swiftly and efficiently direct appropriate law enforcement, medical rescue, and firefighting teams where they are needed. The daily regimen of these public safety officers is filled with life-or-death situations to which they must respond calmly, confidently, and with utmost precision. And though untold numbers of Americans owe their lives to their heroic efforts, public safety telecommunicators are rarely in the limelight.”