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Honoring 911 Operators
Officials nationwide are taking this week to honor those that pick up the phone in case you have an emergency.

This week marks National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, and the Galesburg and 911 operators are taking part.

Galesburg Police Department 911 Coordinator Vicki Miller has been with the department for nearly three decades, and tells WGIL she remembers well in 1995 when the city transitioned from a regular 911 system, to an enhanced 911 system.

"I can recall many times taking those basic 911 calls and absolutely having no idea what was going on and no idea where the call was, and for us, where the call is is our primary factor that's the thing we need to know first, where that call is. So when the first enhanced 911 calls started,... and we able to receive those over the landline phones it was very very nice to see where that call was actually coming from and the name of the caller and the call back number."

Now, Miller says, a vast majority of calls come from cellular phones, and GPS technology can determine the latitude and longitude of a caller's location, so responders can get to them.

National Public Safety Telecommunications Week is part of National 911 Education Month.
04 11 11 by Newsroom
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