The Wake Forest Police Department is pleased to announce that Telecommunicator Susan Walston has earned her Telecommunicator Emergency Response Team (TERT) certification from the NC Division of Emergency Management.
The mission of TERT is to provide trained telecommunicators to assist in mutual aid response in the aftermath of disasters. TERT-certified telecommunicators help shoulder the burden of local 911 centers throughout our state and beyond by coordinating and responding to emergency calls and handling dispatching operations during times when resources are limited and stressed.
TERT training includes 40 hours of classroom instruction and practical exercises. The curriculum includes subjects such as legal liability, limits of telecommunicator authority, the telecommunicator’s role in public safety, interpersonal communications, customer service, interaction with the news media, stress, ethics and confidentiality, responder safety, basic fire dispatch, state emergency operations plans, criminal justice information systems, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid training, emergency medical dispatch and special needs callers.
Walston has been a member of the Wake Forest Police Department since August 2016.
“In most cases, telecommunicators in larger 911 centers participate in TERT training because of the time and manpower required,” said Wake Forest Police Telecommunications Supervisor Dawn Hartwick. “For a telecommunicator from Wake Forest to earn this award is a great accomplishment for our department and our town.
“We are very proud to have one of our own earn this award.”
