Central Texas emergency dispatchers honored for heroism

100 Club of Central Texas honors outstanding first responders

The awards ceremony honored numerous dispatchers, shedding light on the importance and critical role communicators play within emergency service departments.

AUSTIN, Texas - Emergency communications professionals took center stage at the annual 100 Club of Central Texas Outstanding First Responder Awards Thursday.

Five Central Texas dispatchers were recognized for their life-saving actions. Among them, Noshin Ferdous, a communications medic with ATCEMS.

Pflugerville Fire Chief Nick Perkins calls dispatchers the "unsung heroes" of public safety.

"Behind every strong fire department, police department, there's an equally strong, if not stronger communications component," he said. "I don't think dispatchers quite get the credit that they deserve. I think we're trying to change that."

Perkins nominated Ferdous for the award after she helped callers perform CPR on a 14-year-old girl, one of Perkins’ men was on the other end of the phone.

"[Ferdous] was cool as nails. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she brought a lot of calmness to a really chaotic scene," he said.

"Just having a gameplan in my mind helped me stay calm as well as keep the caller calm and assure them that help is on the way. We're on the way to help you, and this is what we're going to do until help is there," she explained.