9-1-1 Cares

St Bernard Parrish's communications center consists of a 23 foot travel trailer in a parking lot. 9-1-1 and emergency calls are routed to cellular phones in the temporary center since land line service has not been restored to the area.

Dispatching is all done via a laptop, 2 cell phones and 3 HTs. The communications “console” consists of the kitchen table.

Dispatch Supervisor and Dispatcher confers over a call prior to dispatch. Citizens are returning to see their demolished homes and often call the Sheriff's office for recovery advice and procedures. Most of the Parrish is a loss.

This is not from looting! The St. Bernard Sheriff ordered that flooded cars in the dispatch center parking lot be stripped of tires and wheels so that the patrol cars with flat tires could be returned to service.

Dispatchers at one of the St Tammany dispatch centers. 911 CARES personally delivered “stress balls”, stress management books, candy, kids artwork and 911 CARES teddy bears to all of the dispatch centers that we visited. We also provided many forms of relief assistance for individuals to apply for.

Vanessa (on right) from 911 CARES volunteered her week and took time off from her normal job as a 9-1-1 dispatcher from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Police & Fire Communications center. Here she chats with a dispatcher within St Tammany Parrish. She also ensured everyone got plenty of Halloween Candy! Sam's Club of Fairbanks, Alaska donated the candy to 911 CARES and Vanessa drug it all the way to Louisiana from Alaska . Thanks Alaska and United airlines for looking the other way. Vanessa's candy bag alone was 59 pounds!

St Charles Parrish Dispatchers pose with Vanessa before getting ready for the big appreciation dinner and party. St Charles dispatchers were a huge help in cooking and preparing for the Dispatch Appreciation event that we held on Thursday. THANK YOU Craig Petit and all of your staff!

Vanessa with kitten ears and New Orleans dispatcher. We spent all of Halloween night delivering candy to dispatch centers in and around New Orleans Parrish. We also spread the word about relief supplies and the appreciation event.

Vanessa and her new friend at New Orleans Parrish Dispatch.

Woody Glover of the 9-1-1 District was kind enough to be our tour guide to Slidell , Louisiana . Slidell was severly damaged and dispatchers had to boat out of their center to safety. Here Kevin and Woody pose with the Slidell Fire Dispatch Supervisor.

Over at Slidell Fire, they LOVE their new stress squishies, candy and other 911 CARES goodies! Most of the Slidell Dispatchers lost everything.

Vanessa meets a Portland, Oregon Firefighter that is working in Slidell until Thanksgiving. The out-of-town firefighters have taken this station as their own and are doing reconstruction between calls. The firehouse was flooded completely.

New Orleans 9-1-1 Communications is now consolidated due to the flooding. They are working from a ballroom on the 3 rd floor of a local hotel. 911 CARES has provided FREE stress de-briefings for the agency and the region. We have trips planned for January and March of 2006 for follow-up de-briefings. We have also visited some agencies in Mississippi and will do more in the future.

Vanessa and Kevin pose for a picture with New Orleans Training Coordinator Ausettua. She has been a huge help and we thank her!

This is an example of the total devastation of Slidell, Louisiana.

This is not a staged photo. The waters receeded and the boat had landed on somebody's car. The cars and houses are total losses due to hazardous materials, mold and unknown damage due to prolonged water damage.

This used to be a waterfront home in Slidell.

We visited the Waveland, Mississippi police department. They are functioning from a tent in the parking lot. The dispatchers had to climb to the roof to be rescued. They have now consolidated their dispatch operations into a double-wide trailor with Hancock County and Bay Saint Louis Dispatchers.

Next stop, the middle of nowhere! The combined centers of Hancock County , Waveland and Bay Saint Louis have located to a high ground and inland location. Here we visit Anita and Joy.

This is a corner of their new double-wide trailer in Hancock County . We dropped of candy, relief supplies, their 911 CARES/Katrina shirts and a little love! Keep up the great work you guys!

Inside the double-wide they call home.

Let's get the party started! This is the Captain in charge of police communications for New Orleans Parrish. The picture was taken at the first Louisiana-Alabama-Mississippi-Texas Dispatch Appreciation event to honor the many professionals that worked through Katrina and Rita!

New Orleans is “in the HOUSE” baby!

Dispatcher professionals from St Bernard, ST Charles, New Orleans, Louisiana State University, State Patrol, Jefferson Parrish, Gretna, Causeway Police and many more attended this great event! We owe a great debt to Craig Petit, Katie Zeringue and the whole team of NENA and APCO members that helped make this a success. 911 CARES paid for and sponsored the event. Over 400 people attended!

We distributed the Katrina/Rita shirts. They will be available for purchase as a fund raiser as of November 20th but every dispatch professional that attends a 911 CARES event or a debriefing gets one for FREE thanks to your donations to 911 CARES.

A Gretna Police Dispatcher is able to take a break and enjoy watching some of the grand dance moves! Y'all can dance Louisiana!

Proud 9-1-1 professionals changed into their shirts right away.

Vanessa works our shirt counter for anxious dispatchers waiting to get their shirts!

We even had a “jumpy house” for the kids with a slide, balls, basketball and jumpy!

A huge thank you to Vanessa of 911 CARES who was invaluable on this trip. Vanessa volunteered her week and took time off from her job as a 9-1-1 dispatcher from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Police & Fire Communications Center.Here she is seen with a St Bernard Parish Dispatcher. Thanks Vanessa for your kindness, dedication and your genuine love for the people you met and helped during the agency visits and debriefings.

NENA and APCO Board Members pose with Kevin and Vanessa after the appreciation dinner. Craig Petit did the cooking while Katie and company made sure relief supplies and Sunshine Fund applications were distributed.

Redwood City, CA 1-800-348-8911 911 CARES Response to the Katrina Hurricane Relief 911 CARES volunteers Kevin Willett and Vanessa Keeslar along with Louisiana APCO and NENA Chapters sponsored a great week of activites, stress de-briefings and appreciation events for the dispatchers affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. From October 30-Nov 4th, 911 CARES visited numerous 9-1-1 centers and delivered supplies, candy (it was Halloween week) and much more. We conducted confidential debriefings and held the first appreciation event for the dispatchers of the region. This is all thanks to you, the generous donors of 911 CARES. Without your support, we would be unable to provide these invaluable services to the 9-1-1 profession. Enjoy the pictures below and feel free to print and post a copy in your dispatch center! Click on any photo to enlarge. If you are interested in “adopting a dispatch family for the holidays” please e-mail lisa@pstc911.com
St Bernard Parrish's communications center consists of a 23 foot travel trailer in a parking lot. 9-1-1 and emergency calls are routed to cellular phones in the temporary center since land line service has not been restored to the area.	Dispatching is all done via a laptop, 2 cell phones and 3 HTs. The communications “console” consists of the kitchen table.	Dispatch Supervisor and Dispatcher confers over a call prior to dispatch. Citizens are returning to see their demolished homes and often call the Sheriff's office for recovery advice and procedures. Most of the Parrish is a loss.
This is not from looting! The St. Bernard Sheriff ordered that flooded cars in the dispatch center parking lot be stripped of tires and wheels so that the patrol cars with flat tires could be returned to service.	Dispatchers at one of the St Tammany dispatch centers. 911 CARES personally delivered “stress balls”, stress management books, candy, kids artwork and 911 CARES teddy bears to all of the dispatch centers that we visited. We also provided many forms of relief assistance for individuals to apply for.	Vanessa (on right) from 911 CARES volunteered her week and took time off from her normal job as a 9-1-1 dispatcher from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Police & Fire Communications center. Here she chats with a dispatcher within St Tammany Parrish. She also ensured everyone got plenty of Halloween Candy! Sam's Club of Fairbanks, Alaska donated the candy to 911 CARES and Vanessa drug it all the way to Louisiana from Alaska . Thanks Alaska and United airlines for looking the other way. Vanessa's candy bag alone was 59 pounds!
St Charles Parrish Dispatchers pose with Vanessa before getting ready for the big appreciation dinner and party. St Charles dispatchers were a huge help in cooking and preparing for the Dispatch Appreciation event that we held on Thursday. THANK YOU Craig Petit and all of your staff!	Vanessa with kitten ears and New Orleans dispatcher. We spent all of Halloween night delivering candy to dispatch centers in and around New Orleans Parrish. We also spread the word about relief supplies and the appreciation event.	Vanessa and her new friend at New Orleans Parrish Dispatch.
Woody Glover of the 9-1-1 District was kind enough to be our tour guide to Slidell , Louisiana . Slidell was severly damaged and dispatchers had to boat out of their center to safety. Here Kevin and Woody pose with the Slidell Fire Dispatch Supervisor.	Over at Slidell Fire, they LOVE their new stress squishies, candy and other 911 CARES goodies! Most of the Slidell Dispatchers lost everything.	Vanessa meets a Portland, Oregon Firefighter that is working in Slidell until Thanksgiving. The out-of-town firefighters have taken this station as their own and are doing reconstruction between calls. The firehouse was flooded completely.
New Orleans 9-1-1 Communications is now consolidated due to the flooding. They are working from a ballroom on the 3 rd floor of a local hotel. 911 CARES has provided FREE stress de-briefings for the agency and the region. We have trips planned for January and March of 2006 for follow-up de-briefings. We have also visited some agencies in Mississippi and will do more in the future.	Vanessa and Kevin pose for a picture with New Orleans Training Coordinator Ausettua. She has been a huge help and we thank her!	This is an example of the total devastation of Slidell, Louisiana.
This is not a staged photo. The waters receeded and the boat had landed on somebody's car. The cars and houses are total losses due to hazardous materials, mold and unknown damage due to prolonged water damage.	This used to be a waterfront home in Slidell.	We visited the Waveland, Mississippi police department. They are functioning from a tent in the parking lot. The dispatchers had to climb to the roof to be rescued. They have now consolidated their dispatch operations into a double-wide trailor with Hancock County and Bay Saint Louis Dispatchers.
Next stop, the middle of nowhere! The combined centers of Hancock County , Waveland and Bay Saint Louis have located to a high ground and inland location. Here we visit Anita and Joy.	This is a corner of their new double-wide trailer in Hancock County . We dropped of candy, relief supplies, their 911 CARES/Katrina shirts and a little love! Keep up the great work you guys!	Inside the double-wide they call home.
Let's get the party started! This is the Captain in charge of police communications for New Orleans Parrish. The picture was taken at the first Louisiana-Alabama-Mississippi-Texas Dispatch Appreciation event to honor the many professionals that worked through Katrina and Rita!	New Orleans is “in the HOUSE” baby!	Dispatcher professionals from St Bernard, ST Charles, New Orleans, Louisiana State University, State Patrol, Jefferson Parrish, Gretna, Causeway Police and many more attended this great event! We owe a great debt to Craig Petit, Katie Zeringue and the whole team of NENA and APCO members that helped make this a success. 911 CARES paid for and sponsored the event. Over 400 people attended!
We distributed the Katrina/Rita shirts. They will be available for purchase as a fund raiser as of November 20th but every dispatch professional that attends a 911 CARES event or a debriefing gets one for FREE thanks to your donations to 911 CARES.	A Gretna Police Dispatcher is able to take a break and enjoy watching some of the grand dance moves! Y'all can dance Louisiana!	Proud 9-1-1 professionals changed into their shirts right away.
Vanessa works our shirt counter for anxious dispatchers waiting to get their shirts!	We even had a “jumpy house” for the kids with a slide, balls, basketball and jumpy!	A huge thank you to Vanessa of 911 CARES who was invaluable on this trip. Vanessa volunteered her week and took time off from her job as a 9-1-1 dispatcher from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Police & Fire Communications Center.Here she is seen with a St Bernard Parish Dispatcher. Thanks Vanessa for your kindness, dedication and your genuine love for the people you met and helped during the agency visits and debriefings.
NENA and APCO Board Members pose with Kevin and Vanessa after the appreciation dinner. Craig Petit did the cooking while Katie and company made sure relief supplies and Sunshine Fund applications were distributed.	If you are interested in “adopting a dispatch family for the holidays” please e-mail lisa@pstc911.com
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