SKOWHEGAN – Three dispatchers at the Somerset Communications Center, which provides emergency services for all towns in the county, were selected last week as the 2007 Maine Communications’ Team of the Year by the Maine chapter of the National Emergency Number Association.

The team consists of supervisor Sharon Carey and dispatchers William Crawford and Tammy Barker.

In addition, Barker was presented with the 2007 NENA Silent Hero Award.

The awards ceremony took place in Lewiston.

“They are all top-notch employees,” Mike Smith, communications director, said Monday. “I am extremely proud that we have them working for Somerset County.”

Smith said the trio was nominated for their handling of a domestic assault call that took place in Rockwood on Jan. 11, 2007.

“This call lasted a total of 92 minutes and involved a female barricaded in a bedroom with her 10-year-old twin sons,” Smith said. A male had put a shotgun to her head and, at the time of 911 call, was still downstairs in the home. The woman was armed with a handgun to protect herself and her children, Smith said.

“These dispatchers exhibited the highest level of regard for all parties involved while keeping the responder and victims’ safety as the highest priority,” Smith said.

The incident was resolved with no injuries and the perpetrator was arrested.

Carey has been with the SCCC for eight years and lives in Embden. Crawford, of Anson, has been with the center for nine years, and Barker is a two-year veteran and lives in Farmington.

Barker’s Silent Hero Award was granted “annually to an employee who exhibits the highest level of commitment to the profession and the agency,” Smith said. “Tammy always performs to the highest level and does all of the extra little things to assist the callers, responders and the comm center.”

bdnpittsfield@verizon.net

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