HOWLAND, Ohio (WKBN) — National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week recognizes the men and women on the other end of a 911 call.

The Trumbull County 911 Center dispatchers talked about the important job they do.

“We’re the first one people call when we need help,” said dispatcher Jim Richmond.

It takes a special person to answer the call to help people experiencing an emergency. The men and women at the 911 center do it every day.

“We’re the people on the phone, we’re the lifeline, we’re the voice in the night when you have something going on and you need help or just need somebody to talk to. It’s a nice time to recognize that,” said dispatcher Beezer Matkovich.

“People don’t know what we handle. They think we just wait for the phone to ring when actually we’re dealing with radios, phones, miscellaneous calls during the day that people call the wrong numbers,” said Richmond.

This week is all about recognizing the work they do and honoring and thanking them for their part in helping others — a job they continue to do day after day.

“We definitely feel the love during this week. There’s an outpouring of people coming to the door to drop things off for us,” said Matkovich.

“This is the job that I believe I was born to do, and I love it. I wouldn’t want to do anything else,” said Matkovich.