Redwood City, CA
1-800-348-8911

Broome County, New York
Dispatchers loose home in floods!

July 1st, 2006

Dear 911 CARES:

We had a total of 6 of our co-workers directly affected by floodwaters, including 3 who lost almost everything that they owned. As you probably saw on the news, our area was devastated by flash floods. Our staff stayed and worked through the ordeal. Once things started to calm down, we realized the losses encountered by our own 9-1-1 staff. The affected dispatchers include:

• Wendy Badia – A dispatcher with five years of service, she lost all of her belongings to the flood and her residence experienced significant structural damage. Wendy is married and has a young son.
• Theresa Kellar – With four and a half years experience, Theresa, her husband and daughter lost the majority of their furniture and appliances
• Gary Lowe -- Another Four and a half year veteran, Gary was at work when the flood waters ripped through his residence leaving him and his teenage daughter with pretty much only the clothes they were wearing.
• Sid Peake  -- Yet another four and a half year veteran, Sid, his wife and two daughters had their basement filled with  water causing extensive damage to his appliances, furnace and belongings along with damage to his house.
• Bert String -- With seven years of service, Bert, his wife and three kids also lost most of their appliances, an extensive collection of antique furniture and a large variety of household goods. 
• Kenny Hayes -- Five and a half year dispatcher, Kenny Hayes was also at work during the floods, and returned home after an almost 15 hour shift to find extensive damage to the home he recently purchased.
• Justin Maciak -- Five and a half year employee, his home suffered major damage. The flood waters destroyed everything in the basement and on the first floor and may require the home to be demolished. Justin is married with one child and a second child is due any day now.

As dedicated professionals, all of the above placed the well being of the citizens that we serve above their personal needs and reported for duty as soon as they were evacuated from their residences.  Over the next week all put in many long, hard stressful hours even though they would much rather have been tending to their families. The staff of our center would greatly appreciate any assistance that could be provided to our co-workers in their time of need. 

The agency, as was in Jim's e-mail signature, is Broome County Office of Emergency Services. We dispatch 36 fire departments, 11 of the 12 ambulance squads in the county and 9 police departments *Including the local NY State Police barracks at this time, since their station was also flooded out* . BCOES employs 54 in dispatch. 37 Full-Time, 10 Part-Time, 6 F-T Seniors and the Communications Supervisor.

NOTE FROM 911 CARES: As you can see, there are at least 6 dispatchers that need your help. PLEASE send cards, letters and e-mails of support. ALSO, they are in need of clothing, children’s books, toys, bedding, towels, school stuff like backpacks and gift certificates so they can replace items not covered by insurance. WE BEG YOU, do not clean out your garage and send items that are useless. We have experience in getting very used or soiled items. Imagine losing everything and getting dirty hand me downs. Some well meaning people send stuff that should really be at the garbage dumps. The 911 CARES rule is “if you would give the item as a gift to a loved family member, then send it!” Please send items directly to the address below. You can call or e-mail James directly and coordinate your donations.

From our Katrina, Rita and Wilma experience, we know that new or very gently used items are nice. Gift cards for Wal-Mart, Target and Home Depot are the best. James at the Broome County 9-1-1 is the contact, his info is listed below. Let’s get to work and help these folks! We’ll make updates as they are given to us. You can also donate directly to the Broome County Dispatchers via the 911 CARES store!

 Sincerely - James C Pandich - (607)778-1209 - JPandich@co.broome.ny.us

The address:
Broome County 911 Center - Public Safety Facility
c/o Brett Chellis
153 Lt. VanWinkle Drive
Binghamton, NY 13905-1559

Kevin Willett
PSTC - Public Safety Training Consultants
www.pstc911.com   www.911cares.com
WK: 650-591-7911 x 102
FAX: 650-591-8911
PGR: 800-880-5277
E-mail: kevin@pstc911.com
PO Box 5508 - Redwood City, CA 94063

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