GREENVILLE N.C. (WNCT) – This week is National Public Safety Telecommunicator’s Week, honoring people who dedicate their lives to serve the public.

9-1-1 operators and dispatchers take emergency calls and contact police, fire-rescue and paramedic personnel to get them to the scene.

“It’s like being on the road, but they actually get to see, where our minds go all over the place with it. I have no clue what’s actually happening and we don’t get the closure that the deputies or EMTs actually get,” said Savannah Blackmon, Pitt County Telecommunicator.

Savannah Blackmon is one of Pitt County’s telecommunicators. She says she did not know what all went into the job before she took it.

“In the Sheriff’s Office of Communications, I didn’t expect as much paper work as this involves, with the stuff we had to enter into the national system and like domestic violence order and things like that,” Blackmon said.

Many of the calls she takes are from people in the lowest moments of their lives, and it can take an emotional toll.

 “I try to keep what’s happening out of my mind. I try not to picture the information. It usually doesn’t hit me until I’m on my way home and sometimes I’ll break down in tears because of the calls coming in,” said Blackmon.

Blackmon is a mother of two. Her job sometimes keeps her away from her children.

 “I missed out on actual holidays, so I’ve had to rework it and do it on different days which confuses them; especially with Santa or the Easter bunny, ” Blackmon said.

But Blackmon knows how important it is to protect and serve her neighbors.

“Getting to help the community and making sure that our deputies get all the information that they need to properly help the community,”Blackmon said.

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is until April 18, 2020.

The Pitt County Sheriff’s Department will be honoring other telecommunicators through the week.

You can visit their Facebook page to see more honorees by clicking this link https://www.facebook.com/PittCountySheriff/.