Full Notification

MONTECITO, CA – April 12th - 18th is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, (formerly known as: Dispatcher Appreciation Week).

The Montecito Fire Protection District would like to acknowledge and thank our dispatchers for their dedication, hard work and amazing skills. They truly are our everyday heroes!

The Montecito Fire Communications Division (South Coast Dispatch) proudly serves the community with the highest degree of professionalism The Communications Division is currently staffed with three full time Public Safety Dispatchers who are responsible for the receipt, documentation and disposition of telephonic and radio calls for routine and emergency “9-1-1” situations for both the Montecito and Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Districts. Dispatchers answer and process four emergency lines, three non-emergency lines and several radio frequencies simultaneously.
The Dispatch Center is staffed 24 hours a day 365 days per year. It is the responsibility of the Public Safety Dispatcher to accurately and as quickly as possible, identify the nature of your call and assist in solving the problem. The Dispatcher is the critical link between the citizen and the firefighters, as they are responsible for screening calls and transferring that information to the firefighters and emergency personnel.

Because each incoming call is unique and can vary from requests for general information to reports of a life threatening incidents, the Dispatcher must ask specific questions to accurately prioritize the call and assign it appropriately to emergency responders. The Dispatcher's most important focus is citizen and firefighter safety. The faster this critical information is obtained determines how quickly firefighters are able to respond.

Montecito Fire Protection District is extremely proud of its Dispatchers, and recognizes all of the sacrifices they make to provide excellent service to the community they serve.