Dispatcher Pam Bugbee sits before a bank of high-tech computer monitors. Calmly, she juggles phone calls and radio communications for the Chenango County Sheriff’s Department and a slew of other law enforcement agencies, fire departments, emergency squads and the like.

But then, a block lights up on her monitor indicating a call on one of Chenango County’s 14 emergency lines. Instantly, 100 percent of her focus is on that line.

“9-1-1. What’s the address of your emergency?” she says, as calmly and coolly as she has fielded countless calls during her 23 years as a public safely dispatcher.

“You never know what the next call’s going to be,” said Daron Schultes, one of Bugbee’s coworkers at the Chenango County Communications Center.

Whatever the situation – fire, motor vehicle accident or medical emergency – dispatchers like Bugbee and Schultes play a crucial role in getting people the help they need. They are more than a voice on the other end of the phone, explained Chief Dispatcher A. Jones; they are the link which connects the person or people in need with the emergency services they require.

Often, the role of the dispatcher is overlooked. But this week Bugbee, Schultes and their colleagues both here in Chenango County and across the country are being honored during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

“Every day people depend on the skill, expertise and commitment of the men and women who work in public safety telecommunications,” said Chenango County Sheriff Ernest R. Cutting Jr.