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October, 2007 PSAP Profile – Bellaire Police Department  Bellaire is a very close-community focused city. It is a city with departments that strive to help their 15,000 citizens. Many of the police department personnel have been there for several years. The police department responds to 41,000 – 43,000 calls for services per year. There are nine full time and three part time positions in the communications staff. This city has also utilized the Neighborhood Early Warning System (NEWS) in the past for shelter-in-place notices to their community. The police city officials were recently trained on the new process for how to launch a NEWS event. Supervisor Profile: Mary Bledsoe Mary Bledsoe, the 9-1-1 Coordinator for Bellaire Police Department is one of the many employees who has a very long tenure at the department. She has over 24 years experience in emergency communications, many of those in the city of Bellaire. Ms. Bledsoe has been a supervisor for seven years. Most memorable 9-1-1 call: Ms. Bledsoe recalled a recent 9-1-1 call in which a male caller who was experiencing diabetic shock called from his vehicle on a cell phone. The caller was trying very hard to give his location, but was also becoming hard to understand. It was important to the caller help right away. Ms. Bledsoe said it is rare for the 9-1-1 call taker to meet the caller or their family. In this instance, the caller’s wife went to the department to personally thank Ms. Bledsoe and the department for helping to find her husband and get him the help the needed. Hardest calls: She says that the hardest calls to answer are any calls involving children. Ms. Bledsoe is very dedicated to her career, but also to her family and friends. She has a very active life away from the job. It is not uncommon for her to be chauffeuring children to and from weekly activities and she is also very good at recognizing her coworkers for the jobs the do. Bledsoe’s advice to telecommunicators and dispatchers is to “be sure that this job is for you. You have to have your heart in it to get the job done.” |