MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — The Monroe County Control Center in Hamilton Township, near Stroudsburg, answers hundreds of calls a day.
Kristi Apgar is one of the voices on the other end of the line. She's been a dispatcher with the county since 2017.
"My husband was actually a police officer as well, and I actually heard the voice on his radio, and I remember saying to him one day, 'How do you become the voice behind that radio?' And he said, 'You have to go to the control center.' And that's actually how I ended up applying," said Apgar, now a Monroe County dispatcher.
Looking to promote 911 education, she came up with a new program called "Donuts with a Dispatcher."
Through the program, people will get an hour-long, personal session with a dispatcher inside the communications center to ask questions, meet the dispatch staff on duty, and see what they do.
"We're a very critical role in the response for first responders, and a lot of people just hear that voice behind the radio. They don't see the other five, six, ten other things that we're doing at the same time. So it's super important to get them in here and let them know what we do," said Apgar.
The county hopes the program raises awareness and gets more dispatchers in these seats.
"A lot of people don't think of this. They think of law enforcement, maybe an EMT or firefighter. They don't really think about the people behind the scenes that help make some of these things happen," said Melissa Harris, the quality assurance and public outreach for Monroe County Control Center.
"It's been quite a long time since anyone really been able to interact with one another, so we're more than happy to welcome the public back in and kind of get that bond back with the community," Apgar said.
Anybody is welcome to sign up for the program.
Available dates are April 11 to April 28, Monday through Thursday, from:
- 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
- 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
- 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
You will have to fill out this form.
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