Each year, the Telecommunicator of the Year Award is presented to a telecommunicator for exemplary handling of a particular emergency call.  There were EIGHT Honorees selected from across the state, and GHC 9-1-1 was fortunate to have FIVE Honorees from our area for 2011. All of the 2011 Telecomunicator of the Year Honorees and Silent Heroes were recognized at the GHC 9-1-1 Board of Managers meeting held on April 27, 2011. The GHC 9-1-1 Board of Managers recognized the telecommunicators for the vital contributions to emergency services.

Handled a wireless call from a caller who had regained consciousness following a boating accident in which two other people had been ejected from the boat.

The Commission on State Emergency Communications recognized Daneille Grunden for exceptional handling of a 9-1-1 call while working as a Telecommunicator for League City Police Department. September 5, 2010 started as a beautiful sunny morning. On this Sunday morning, 9‐1‐1 Telecommunicator, Daneille Grunden answered a wireless call from a male caller who had sustained a serious head injury and advised that there had been a boating accident, and that a women and her 9 year-old child were ejected into some trees approximately 20 to 50 feet from the water.  The male was still in the water and was bleeding from the head; he was disoriented and did not know where he was on the lake.     Read more . . .

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LaKesha Hammonds
Memorial Villages Police Dept.

Handled a call involving a teenage runaway. The Commission on State Emergency Communications recognized Lakesha Hammonds for exceptional handling of a 9-1-1 call while working as a Telecommunicator for Memorial Villages Police Department. On October 1, 2010 at about 1730 hr, Ms. Lakesha Hammonds received a 9-1-1 call from a frantic mother, stating her 13 year-old daughter had run away. Officers responded and spoke to the mother, who said that her daughter left for school that morning, but was not there when she came to pick her up. While the officer spoke to the mother, a friend of the daughter called and said that the girl had told him she was on her way to Arizona. This friend later called the police department and said that he found a post on Facebook    Read more . . . ____________________________________________________________

Keturah Nelms
Harris County Sheriff’s Office

Handled a call from a woman who was trapped inside an apartment fire. The Commission on State Emergency Communications recognized Keturah Nelms for exceptional handling of a 9-1-1 call while working as a Telecommunicator for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The hard reality of being a 9-1-1 call taker is that we are not invincible; we cannot always save a life. But that doesn’t mean that we are not heroes. A hero is defined as someone with exceptional courage and strength despite all odds. Courage and strength are definitely what was exhibited by Communications Officer Keturah Nelms on September 24, 2010. Keturah was working the 9-1-1 phones when she received a desperate 9-1-1 call from a woman reporting she was trapped inside of her apartment and it was on fire.    Read more . . . ____________________________________________________________

Devon Jones & Lola Purvis
Houston Emergency Center

Handled a wireless call from a female victim who was tied up with a sock in her mouth and trapped inside a closet. The Commission on State Emergency Communications recognized Devon Jones and Lola Purvis for exceptional handling of a 9-1-1 call while working as telecommunicators for the Houston Emergency Center. On June 16, 2010 police call taker Devon received a call at approximately 8:00 am from a wireless Phase II cell phone. The caller’s voice came in muffled and unclear. CT Devon listened carefully to make out what the caller was saying but relied heavily on his resources to determine an emergency location. The original location that was used was based on what he thought the caller was saying and he compared to where the cell tower was plotting the call on the map.     Read more . . . ____________________________________________________________ View 2011 Silent Heroes View Group Photos from Board of Managers Meeting on April 27, 2011