The E-911 in Habersham County has received national certification. The county will be recognized for its efforts in presenting the award at the national conference in Florida this summer.
APCO (Association of Public Safety Communications Officials) International sent the notification letter on January 29 recognizing Habersham County’s E-911 training curriculum.
“The certification must be renewed every four years,” said Habersham County E-911/Emergency Management Agency Director Lynn Smith. “A lot of work goes into this to meet national standards – policies, procedures, testing, and so forth. Not only is it put on paper for the certification, but we apply it each time we hire a new employee. It is constantly changing to make it work better. The work is uploaded along with the application. Once APCO receives the application, it goes before a review board which goes through each section to make sure all criteria are met. APCO will give you one opportunity to fix any discrepancies they find during the review process. I am happy to say that we did not have any revisions and were approved on the first submission. The official award will be presented at the national conference, where someone from our organization will go on stage and receive it.”
Smith commended Assistant Director Melanie Bellinger and Records Manager Beth Alewine for their hard work in achieving the recertification, as well as all the employees who applied the curriculum during the training process.
Founded in 1935, APCO International is the world’s largest and oldest organization of public safety communications professionals, with a membership of over 40,000. The association is based in Daytona Beach, Fla., with executive offices in Alexandria, Va.
APCO’s 90th Annual Conference & Expo will be held in Orlando, Fla., Aug. 4-7.
