By Daily News Staff and News Services
The 911 SAVES Act’s aim is to reclassify the dispatch job from clerical to a protective service position in the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Charles Goodwin just wants some respect.
That’s why he was in Washington, D.C., this past week, at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Norma Torres, D-California.
Goodwin, a dispatcher for the Natick Police Department, joined Torres and other lawmakers to call attention to the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services (SAVES) Act.
The measure is all about giving dispatchers the respect and recognition they deserve, Goodwin said.
“Being a dispatcher is a professional career. It’s not a clerical job,” he said.
The bill’s aim is to reclassify the dispatch job from clerical to a protective service position in the White House Office of Management and Budget.
A dispatcher’s job has become more complicated, Goodwin said, with advances in technology. There are also continuing education and certification requirements.
The re-classification called for in the 911 SAVES Act could mean access to benefits common for police and firefighters, Goodwin said. Those include treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and access to counseling to manage job stress.
Goodwin is on the front lines of emergency response, taking calls that can be critical situations, and then having to quickly deploy police and emergency responders to the scene.
It’s a stressful job, and sometimes a dispatcher can be the difference between life and death.
A Milford native, Goodwin worked his way up in the Natick PD to lead dispatcher and training coordinator. He celebrates his seventh year in the department on Tuesday.
“Time flies,” he said.
Milford girl delivers Kennedy
U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy is known to make the rounds in the 4th Congressional District, but his stop on March 1 at Milford’s Woodland Elementary School didn’t come by chance.
He was invited there, by none other than fourth-grader Sarah Balducci.
“She loves politics,” her mother, Angela, told the Daily News.
Even at age 10.
Sarah extended her invitation to the four-term congressman in November, via letter. A teacher told her in mid-January that he had accepted.
“She was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Angela Balducci said.
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