(TNS) — In any given eight-hour shift, John Butz sits in front of eight monitors in the Trumbull Police Department, fielding 911 calls.

Amid the chaos that any night can bring, Butz will handle calls running the gamut from a report that someone ran over a mailbox to a 3-year-old in cardiac arrest.

“We’re the first link of communications,” during emergency situations, Butz said of dispatchers.

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is the second week in April, celebrated annually since its inception in 1981 with praise from local police and fire departments who acknowledge the part that 911 dispatchers play in public safety.

And John Butz is one of the people who are a center of calm amid the information whirpool.

Butz, who was born and raised in Trumbull but currently lives in Stratford, has been a dispatcher for Trumbull police for 16 years. He said he started out part-time before transitioning into a full-time position.

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