Ottawa 911 dispatchers Fuentes, Koepke named Telecommunicators of the Year

The city of Ottawa recognized Stacey Fuentes and Chandler Koepke as Telecommunicators of the Year as part of its annual celebration of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

Commissioner James Less said the winner of the award was decided via a vote among all of the city’s 911 operators and the office was split between Fuentes and Koepke. It was then decided both were deserving of the award.

Less read comments from their peers explaining why Fuentes and Koepke earned their vote.

For Fuentes, peers said she’s always helpful and answers any questions, and takes on any task. Fuentes learns new job duties and goes above and beyond in her projects and tasks.

For Koepke, a peer said she’s mastered taking CPR calls and knows all of the protocols like the back of her hand. She teaches new employees with compassion and patience and specific actions he took while on a call helped the police apprehend the suspect in an armed robbery case.