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Contact Kris Berg
(800) 363-9127 ext. 116
kris.berg@emergencydispatch.org
Annual Navigator offers something for everyone
The annual Navigator conference, sponsored by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch® (NAED™), transformed the Coronado Springs Resort, in Orlando, Fla., into dispatch central mixing field trips, education, entertainment, and networking for the more than 1200 participants attending the three-day event.
Seventy-eight sessions divided into categories including leadership, management, and operations highlighted the use of the Medical, Police, and Fire Priority Dispatch System Protocols and their application to emergency communications.
Keynote speaker Jill Shepherd talked about the risks she accepted both as a combat medic serving in Afghanistan and Miss USA 2007 contestant. Dispatcher of the Year recipient Meridith Jensen, EMD, said she was fortunate to find a profession so intrinsically rewarding, similar to the remarks made by Jeff Clawson Leadership Award honoree Jerry Overton, president and chief executive officer of Road Safety International, Inc.
“Bringing even a small amount of hope to a caller's most desperate time of need offers an indescribable intrinsic reward that makes my heart swell with pride every time I am asked what I do for a living,” said Jensen, of the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Communication Center Management (CCM) course graduates took to the stage represented by fellow student Sherri Stigler, training and operations manager, Waukesha County (Wis.) Communications, who lauded the lifetime network the course facilitated. Ing. Christof Chwojka, 144 Notruf NO (Austria) communications manager, accepted the first Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) certificate granted to a country in continental Europe. Tami Wiggins, trainer and quality improvement coordinator for Harford County (Md.) Division of Emergency Operations, gave credit to center dispatchers for achieving the first tri-ACE in the continental United States.
Business took a more leisurely turn with field trips to the Reedy Creek Fire Station and Communications Center, a public agency serving Walt Disney World, an evening party at Typhoon Lagoon, and a gala reception sponsored by exhibitors.
When Navigator 2010 was all over, no one could be more elated about the conference than NAED President Scott Freitag, Salt Lake City Fire (Utah) Department Communications and Public Relations Section director.
“The response at Navigator always gives me an indication of what to expect in the coming year,” he said. “And, from what I see here, it will be a great one.”
The NAED is a nonprofit association, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that specializes in the development of emergency communications center dispatch protocol. Navigator 2011 is scheduled for April 20-22 in Las Vegas.
