Scholarships
In an effort to give back to the members of the Nebraska Chapter of APCO/NENA, the Executive Board has created an Awards and Scholarship Committee; this committee may facilitate the allotment of funds to assist members with participation in training courses which impact our industry or in the annual state conferences, national APCO, or national NENA conferences.
Funds will be awarded each year. Application for scholarships require that all awardees receive employer approval to expend funds; should an awardee not attend a course which has been paid for, the attendee’s agency shall be responsible for reimbursing the chapter directly.
Success Stories
Your Nebraska APCO NENA Chapter would like to spotlight the public safety communications personnel who have demonstrated the highest levels of professional conduct and performance in the line of duty.
Please include the name of the telecommunicators to be recognized, position title, tenure, and a brief summary of the event to
[email protected]
Please include the name of the telecommunicators to be recognized, position title, tenure, and a brief summary of the event to
[email protected]
The Chapter would like to recognize the following for outstanding professionalism and dedication:
Andrew Swanson – Custer County Communications
On January 25th, 2022 at 17:18 an inmate in the Custer County Jail attacked a jailer in an attempt to escape. This incident happened on the other side of the wall that separates the jail and dispatch center. The dispatcher on duty that evening was Andrew Swanson, a dispatcher for Custer County Communications for 11 years. Andrew was able to get the only Officer in the building a key to the jail to assist the jailer and then turned to the radio and phone to get more assistance coming to the jail. Andrew performed all of this while working through the sounds of hearing a coworker being brutally assaulted and screaming for her life. While making the transmissions and calls for assistance, Andrew watched the monitors of the jail and saw the inmate exiting the building. Andrew advised all units of the inmate’s direction of travel and was able to get the responding Officers and Deputies to the inmate in less than three blocks before the inmate could harm anyone else. At this time, the jailer came out of the jail bleeding and disoriented, Andrew was able to get an ambulance for the jailer; who suffered broken bones, lacerations, bruising, and swelling to the head and face. The actions of Andrew Swanson, as well as all of the responders he was able to get, saved the life of a jailer and lead to the apprehension of the dangerous escaped inmate.
On January 25th, 2022 at 17:18 an inmate in the Custer County Jail attacked a jailer in an attempt to escape. This incident happened on the other side of the wall that separates the jail and dispatch center. The dispatcher on duty that evening was Andrew Swanson, a dispatcher for Custer County Communications for 11 years. Andrew was able to get the only Officer in the building a key to the jail to assist the jailer and then turned to the radio and phone to get more assistance coming to the jail. Andrew performed all of this while working through the sounds of hearing a coworker being brutally assaulted and screaming for her life. While making the transmissions and calls for assistance, Andrew watched the monitors of the jail and saw the inmate exiting the building. Andrew advised all units of the inmate’s direction of travel and was able to get the responding Officers and Deputies to the inmate in less than three blocks before the inmate could harm anyone else. At this time, the jailer came out of the jail bleeding and disoriented, Andrew was able to get an ambulance for the jailer; who suffered broken bones, lacerations, bruising, and swelling to the head and face. The actions of Andrew Swanson, as well as all of the responders he was able to get, saved the life of a jailer and lead to the apprehension of the dangerous escaped inmate.
Kaylie Ruiz and Rachel Borges – York County Communications
Communications Officer, CTO Kaylie Ruiz and Communications Officer Rachel Borges were awarded the YCCC Commendation Award on July 26, 2022. The YCCC Commendation Award is awarded to any member of the Department for exceptional performance of their duty, which significantly contributes to advancing the mission and values of the Department. The nominated party’s actions shall go beyond that required of the Communication Officer’s duty assignment and the actions shall have demonstrated good judgment and procedures.
On February 8, 2022, York County deputies engaged in a vehicular pursuit involving an armed suicidal subject. Both Kaylie and Rachel immediately activated into their respective roles as primary and secondary pursuit dispatchers according to our policy and procedure. They performed above and beyond their duty assignment by proactively notifying and requesting aid from outside agencies, patching talkgroups for interoperability and using the echo procedure of repeating radio traffic and incident-related information, allowing for exceptional communication between all agencies involved. When the vehicular pursuit resulted in a train crash, both dispatchers transitioned into support roles for all involved agencies, all the while handling other emergencies coming into the communications center.
This is the type of professionalism we strive our Communications Center to produce. Communications Director Leila Luft commend both Kaylie and Rachel for demonstrating an understanding and mastery in action of the mission and values of the York County Communications Center for exceptional performance of their duty in extreme circumstances.
Communications Officer, CTO Kaylie Ruiz and Communications Officer Rachel Borges were awarded the YCCC Commendation Award on July 26, 2022. The YCCC Commendation Award is awarded to any member of the Department for exceptional performance of their duty, which significantly contributes to advancing the mission and values of the Department. The nominated party’s actions shall go beyond that required of the Communication Officer’s duty assignment and the actions shall have demonstrated good judgment and procedures.
On February 8, 2022, York County deputies engaged in a vehicular pursuit involving an armed suicidal subject. Both Kaylie and Rachel immediately activated into their respective roles as primary and secondary pursuit dispatchers according to our policy and procedure. They performed above and beyond their duty assignment by proactively notifying and requesting aid from outside agencies, patching talkgroups for interoperability and using the echo procedure of repeating radio traffic and incident-related information, allowing for exceptional communication between all agencies involved. When the vehicular pursuit resulted in a train crash, both dispatchers transitioned into support roles for all involved agencies, all the while handling other emergencies coming into the communications center.
This is the type of professionalism we strive our Communications Center to produce. Communications Director Leila Luft commend both Kaylie and Rachel for demonstrating an understanding and mastery in action of the mission and values of the York County Communications Center for exceptional performance of their duty in extreme circumstances.
