Johnson County photo added

A new photo of Johnson County Emergency Communications Center has been added.  It, along with other PSAP photos can be viewed at http://www.ksapco.net/photos.html. 

Photos of Fall Conference published

Photos of the 2010 Fall Conference have been posted.  All photos are courtesy of Brad Gilges, Executive Committee Person/Member Liaison of the Kansas Chapter.  Photos can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ksapco/sets/.

Services for Selma Southard

From Rhonda Birdsong...It is with great sadness that I relay to all of you, the passing of Selma M. Southard, Director of the Douglas County Emergency Communications Center. Director Southard passed away on Friday, November 12, 2010, after a brief illness. Director Southard gave 36 years of service with Douglas County and will be greatly missed within the 9-1-1 community. The link to her obituary follows: http://www2.ljworld.com/obituaries/2010/nov/15/selma-southard/

Visitation: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, from 1700-1900 hours, at Warren-McElwain, 120 W. 13th St., Lawrence, KS.

Funeral: Wednesday, November 17, 2010, at 1000 hours, at Mustard Seed Church, 700 Wakarusa Dr., Lawrence, KS.

Burial at Oak Hill Cemetery will immediately follow the service.

Please keep the family of Selma Southard in your thoughts and prayers. The employees of the Douglas County Emergency Communications Center are coping with this passing of their Director, and any words of comfort, thoughts, encouragement, and prayers that you or your Center can provide to them would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone should have any questions concerning the above information, please contact: Amanda Reusch, at 785.312.1717.

To leave a condolence, visit http://www.warrenmcelwain.com/obituaryDetail.cfm?idObituary=593&#signguestbook.

Messamore to retire

Mary Messamore, 911 Director for Hutchison/Reno County Emergency Communications, is retiring after 31 years of public safety experience.  A reception in her honor will be held on December 3rd at the Reno County Courthouse.  You can view the flyer at http://www.ksapco.net/files/Messamore_Retirement.pdf.  Congratulations Mary, and best wishes in your retirement.

Pennington to be 2nd VP

Kim Pennington, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications, was elected to the 2nd Vice President position at the Fall Conference in Wichita.  The vote was held in conjunction with the business meeting and was taken among members of APCO.  Kim will begin her duties in January when Kathy McGaughey, Garden City Police, assumes the role of Chapter President and Lance Royer, Shawnee County Sheriff's Office advances to 1st Vice President.  Congratulations to Kim and thanks to everyone who was a candidate for the office.

Reno hires experienced 911 chief

By Mary Clarkin - The Hutchinson News - mclarkin@hutchnews.com

Hutchinson and Marion County didn't work out a swap. It just looks that way.
Emergency Communications Director Mary Messamore, overseeing the 911 dispatch center at the Hutchinson-Reno County Law Enforcement Center, will retire in early December and move to Marion, where family members live.
Hutchinson's next emergency communications director - Michele Abbott - will move here from Marion County.

Messamore wasn't part of the team of law enforcement, fire, ambulance and emergency management officials who interviewed job finalists, but she expressed delight with the selection.
About 60 people applied for the job, according to city staff. The other two people interviewed were from Florida.
Abbott will start here Oct. 25, enabling an overlap training period with Messamore.
Abbott started in 1989 as a dispatcher in Marion County, after responding to a help-wanted ad. She rose through the ranks to supervisor and then director. Since 1999, she has been director of emergency communications and also emergency management chief.
Abbott is familiar with the regional 911 backup dispatch center at Hutchinson Community College's campus near Yoder. A 19-county regional homeland security group wanted a backup center, and a grant helped make it possible. Abbott was on the regional council and served as co-manager of the project.
"We just installed that equipment there two weeks before Greensburg happened, and then we activated it and were able to take calls for Greensburg," she said, referring to the May 2007 tornado.
Like Messamore, Abbott has been active on professional boards. Abbott has testified on emergency communications issues before state lawmakers. She is a governing board member with the Kansas Association of Counties, and has twice been president of the Kansas Chapter of the Association of Public-Safety Officials-International Inc.
Marion County's center is fully staffed, but Abbott said the challenge of filling job vacancies is shared by many centers.
"It's a very stressful and demanding job," she said, but added that she also loved the work.
Emergency agencies in Reno County are switching to an 800 megahertz radio system. Marion County does not operate on such a system, but Messamore said Abbott has a "a lot of knowledge" about it.
Moving with Abbott to Reno County will be her 11-year-old son, Chase. Marion County officials are considering options for filling the future vacancy there, including the possibility of dividing duties, Abbott said.

Social at Fall Conference hosted by Voice Products, ATT

The Sunday social at the KSAPCO Fall Conference has been announced and is sponsored by Voice Products and ATT.  For information on the social, visit the conference page at http://www.ksapco.net/Fall10.html.