They are the first voice you hear when you call 911 and they deal with emergencies with calm professionalism. This week is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. 

"Our 911 calls get answered out of Prince Albert," explained Police Chief, Paul Ladouceur. "That's the main centre for any of the smaller municipal police services in the province. So they answer our 911 calls for which we're very grateful. They direct those people making the 911 calls to the appropriate agencies."

"So if you call 911 and you're reporting a fire, Prince Albert 911 would then look at dispatching the closest fire department to your location. If it was the case you needed police, then they would dispatch police. Sometimes it's two or more services that they are dispatching at the same time."

He added that the Estevan Police Service also employs in-house communication officers that work within the police service,

"And they take those calls from PA and then dispatch our cars. They also take incoming calls directly to our police service."

"We're certainly appreciative of the work that they do every day. Daunting, daunting work sometimes, you can imagine when people are quite upset or in a state of panic, those individuals have to calm down those callers down and get the information."

"They are the lifeline for our officers out on the streets. They look out for our safety when we're out on the roadways checking on us to make sure everything is okay. Getting us the information if people are wanted on warrants or are dangerous, they do those checks for us. They do a number of queries when we're out there."

"They play a huge role in our organization and we can't thank them enough."