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<p>HANOVER TWP. &#8212; Luzerne County got a jump on National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which actually starts Sunday, on Saturday with an open house at the 911 center.</p><p>Before the open house, 911 honored several employees with outstanding service awards.</p><p>&#8220;Without them, the system doesn&#8217;t work,&#8221; Fred Rosencrans, the executive director of Luzerne County 911, said.</p><p>Victor Shovlin, one of the honorees, has been working at the center since 2001.</p><p>&#8220;My family got to see (what I do),&#8221; he said.</p><p>A Wilkes-Barre police officer who was involved in a shooting at a Wilkes-Barre Township shopping center in October attended the ceremony. Having him there was Shovlin&#8217;s favorite part of the day.</p><p>More than 150 Luzerne County residents came throughout the morning to see what the 911 operators do. They were able to walk around and get a feel for what it&#8217;s like when emergency calls come in. The training room of the center was open and individuals were able to work on training computers and listen to a real-time feed of a police scanner.</p><p>Given the weather, Megan Hannon, Luzerne County 911&#8217;s public safety answering point manager, said the number of workers was &#8220;increased&#8221; because &#8220;call volume increases.&#8221;</p><p>Agencies from across the county came to the open house to, not only showcase themselves, but honor 911 workers.</p><p>Luzerne County Detective Charles &#8220;Chaz&#8221; Balogh was there with drunk-simulation goggles. He took up a hallway in the center encouraging young and old to try the goggles on.</p><p>&#8220;You can do it,&#8221; Balogh kept repeating to Kaylee Meeker, 8, of Hunlock Creek, as she tried valiantly to keep her arms at her side and walk heel to toe in a straight line.</p><p>&#8220;(I was) bad,&#8221; said Meeker, who was there with her father, 911 supervisor Chris Meeker. &#8220;I thought it would be pretty easy because I do gymnastics.&#8221;</p><p>Hannon said the planning of the event takes five months, but it&#8217;s well worth it.</p><p>&#8220;(The telecommunicators) enjoy it. Most people don&#8217;t realize what they do,&#8221; Hannon said.</p><p><strong>Taking an Emergency Call</strong></p><p>Inside the center, two things take place when people place calls to county 911.</p><p>First a call taker, will answer the call and input information into the system. Then a dispatcher will dispatch the correct units to the scene.</p><p>There are two &#8220;zones&#8221; for dispatchers, one for fire companies and one for police.</p><p>&#8220;If it&#8217;s an EMS call, both fire and police will be dispatched,&#8221; Hannon said.</p><p>During a tour of the facility, Hannon noted that more than one process, besides the call coming in and the call being dispatched, is occurring when a call is placed.</p><p>During the call, quality control supervisors will listen in to &#8220;make sure callers are getting the best possible service.&#8221;</p><p>There are data and information technology staffs as well, mapping out the correct addresses. It&#8217;s that office where discrepancies in addresses are addressed. Mapping also does more than find out wrong addresses.</p><p>&#8220;They can map down to the nearest fire hydrant,&#8221; Hannon said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kaylee Meeker, 8, of Hunlock Creek, tries her best to walk a straight line while wearing drunk-simulation goggles. Looking on is Luzerne County Detective Chaz Balogh. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_openhouse03.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kaylee Meeker, 8, of Hunlock Creek, tries her best to walk a straight line while wearing drunk-simulation goggles. Looking on is Luzerne County Detective Chaz Balogh. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_openhouse04.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County 911 dispatcher Jennifer Bagley shows Kaelen Van Vliete, 5, of West Wyoming, locator maps on the 911 center&#8217;s computer in the training room during Saturday&#8217;s open house. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_openhouse04.jpg</photo1><caption1>Luzerne County 911 dispatcher Jennifer Bagley shows Kaelen Van Vliete, 5, of West Wyoming, locator maps on the 911 center&#8217;s computer in the training room during Saturday&#8217;s open house. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County 911 holds open house to kick off National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week