COLUMBIA, S.C. — A line of police cars and fire trucks paraded downtown to show love and appreciation for 911 operators Friday.
The first responder parade was for National Public Safety Telecommunications Week: An annual celebration of the hard work of 911 operators across the country.
Columbia Fire and Police as well as the Richland County Sheriff’s Department gave a big thank you to the people that answer hundreds of distressed calls a day.
"It’s definitely challenging at times," said 911 call-taker Blake Moody. "I do love what I do -- knowing that I go home every day saving somebody’s life."
Moody has been at the Columbia Richland Emergency Communications Center for about a year. He said he appreciates the parade and recognition for their hard work.
"We don’t get noticed a lot and we’re behind the scenes a lot," said Moody. He added that he takes about 150 911 calls a day.
"It all starts here in this building with these guys," said Ron Clisby, a 911 dispatcher, outside of the Emergency Center. "They take the calls, they try to keep people calm ‘til we get there and help them out along the way. So it all starts here"
Clisby's job is to alert the correct emergency units based on the 911 calls they get.
Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins was also at the parade. He said he thinks it's important to recognize the 911 operators because "we’re all in this together we’re all first responders."
Jenkins said his department couldn’t do its jobs without 911 operators and called them the "true first responders."
The Chief said, "we’re just like a close-knit family and a family always watches out for one another... That’s what we do."
According to city officials, there are 86,911 dispatchers and call-takers in Columbia.