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DENTON – 911 Specialist Julie Holland has been named Caroline’s Dispatcher of the Year. The award, presented by Department of Emergency Services Director Mark Sheridan, is given each year in celebration of National Public Safety Telecommunicator Appreciation Week to a 911 dispatcher that shows exemplary dedication.
Sheridan said that Holland has worked hard to bring back a long-dormant peer support group within the 911 staff and the wider Caroline County first responders circle. Sheridan remarked that, usually, when people call 911 it is “the worst day of their lives.” The goal of the support team is to support fellow first responders’ mental health when dealing with the emotional distress that these positions can sometimes cause.
Holland was given a plaque to mark the achievement at the April 14 Caroline County Commissioners meeting. Commissioner Larry Porter was sympathetic to the cause that Holland has been championing, saying, “No one can understand how difficult it can be…it takes a special kind of person to be able to do that.”
