MOUNT VERNON — On July 31, 1995, Laura Webster joined the 911 center as a dispatcher.
Last week, the Knox County commissioners honored her with a proclamation for 30 years of service.
During her tenure, she rose first to the role of 911 dispatch supervisor and then to her current role as operations director.
The proclamation notes that Webster’s 30-year career reflects not only longevity but also extraordinary contributions to public service, earning her the respect of her peers, colleagues, community and the Board of Commissioners.
“Through her years of service, Laura demonstrated strong leadership on operational excellence and deep commitment to public safety …” the proclamation states.
“In each role, Laura has consistently demonstrated a deep sense of duty, a remarkable professionalism, and a steadfast dedication to supporting emergency personnel in the community they serve, and her leadership and experience have been instrumental in the development and improvement of emergency communication systems and procedures in Knox County, ensuring the safety and well-being of countless residents…”
Webster has desire to support 911 dispatchers
Webster said that besides helping people, her favorite thing about the 911 center is the camaraderie with coworkers and public safety partners.
“No one understands what you go through better than they do,” she said.
One of the first things Webster did as director was help write a national standard for critical incident stress management.
“After 20 years of taking calls, I realized that it was important to address mental health and what dispatchers go through and give them the resources and tools that I didn’t have,” she said.
“We may not see what’s happening, but we hear it and there are just some things that you will never un-hear.”
Webster said the center now has several things in place to help dispatchers address things they might be dealing with.
“As director, it is important to me to take care of the people who are taking care of our citizens,” she said.
911 passes LEADS audit
Webster also updated the commissioners on recent activities and statistics in the 911 center, including passing the Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) audit in June.
The dispatch center scored 100 percent on entries without errors.
Additionally, the center had its LEADS Technical and Security audit early this month. Webster said that it, too, went well.
Final results will be available in September.
The center received 1,765 911 calls in July, up slightly compared to June.
The number of attempted or threatened suicides decreased significantly from June, dropping from 33 to 19.
However, the number of completed suicides rose from one to two.
Calls relating to mental health also dropped from 25 to 16.
“I’m hoping the reason that some of these calls are dropping is because we have more resources in the county for mental health and for people not to turn to drugs as a way to deal things,” Webster said.
“That will take time for us as a county to build up, but I think it’s heading in the right direction.”
The center is fully staffed at 20. Two are in training.
“The call volume for the number [of dispatchers] is pretty huge,” Commissioner Barry Lester said.
Public relations activities included a booth at First Friday and National Night Out.
