Police and firefighters are the first to arrive on the scene in an emergency — but they’re not the first to respond.
“People refer to police and firefighters as the first responders, but we have first contact with people in need of assistance, so we’re the very front line,” said Tamara Maldonado, who supervises a 911 call center in Montgomery County, Md.
For the majority of the year Maldonado and a fellow night-shift supervisor, Gloria Jackson, remain behind the scenes. Both, however, were summoned to the spotlight last week. The pair together received the “Maryland Supervisor of the Year” award on April 12 from the Mid-Eastern Chapter of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, an emergency communications organization.
“It’s a good feeling because normally we’re the unsung heroes,” Jackson said. “And we just typically attribute it to that’s part of my job and just take the self-satisfaction in knowing we’ve done a good job.”
Jackson has been working at the center for nearly 24 years, while Maldonado is a 20-year veteran. Both women oversee a team of 911 operators from 4 p.m. to midnight — the prime time for criminal activity, Jackson said.
The women have handled some of Montgomery County’s most chaotic events over the years. Maldonado was on duty when last summer’s earthquake hit. Seconds after the call center trembled, the phones erupted, she said.
Jackson remembered fielding calls from people stuck in Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring during a hostage crisis two years ago.
Whether the situation is life-threatening or not, it’s their job to make sure public safety officers make it to the scene safely and with enough knowledge to take control — and to keep the caller safe in the interim.
“It’s (911) that people go to when they don’t know what to do,” Maldonado said. “… They know we’re there 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
