Baker County dispatch adds trained telecommunicator Jamian Streeter

Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash said Jamian Streeter is trained and ready to answer emergency calls, a staffing gain that matters in a county where one dispatcher may be the first voice heard during a crash, fire, medical emergency or search-and-rescue call.

The Baker County Dispatch Center operates with 8 full-time telecommunicators, a records specialist and reserve positions, serving Baker City, Durkee, Haines, Halfway, Huntington, Oxbow, Richland, Sumpter and Unity. The center is listed at 3410 K. St. in Baker City, and the Oregon PSAP directory identifies Corinna Jacobs as lead dispatcher.

Streeter completed the Basic Telecommunicator Course at the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in Salem, a step every Baker County telecommunicator must complete to earn a basic telecommunications certificate through the state of Oregon. The sheriff’s office also requires dispatchers, within 18 months of employment, to obtain telecommunications certification, emergency medical dispatch certification and law enforcement data system certification.

That training carries weight in a county where dispatch is tied to far more than answering phones. The Baker County Sheriff’s Office counts dispatch, jail operations, civil papers, court orders, courthouse security, search-and-rescue coordination and public-safety emergency response among its responsibilities, and the office’s service area stretches across a wide rural landscape. In that setting, one additional fully trained telecommunicator can help cover busy shifts, keep calls moving and reduce pressure on the staff already carrying the load.

DPSST recognized telecommunicator trainees during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, April 12-18, and said telecommunicators across Oregon handle nearly two million emergency calls each year. For Baker County, where the dispatch center is the first point of contact for many 911 calls, that statewide workload reflects the same reality local residents depend on every day: the faster a dispatcher can gather details, find the location and send the right help, the sooner deputies, firefighters or medics can move. Ash’s welcome to Streeter back to Baker City marked both a personnel win and a practical one for the county’s emergency response system.