00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 38                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to recognize public safety telecommunicators as first                                 
02 responders; and urging the United States Congress to pass the Enhancing First                                           
03 Response Act.                                                                                                           
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS public safety telecommunicators, also known as emergency                                                
06 telecommunicators or emergency medical dispatchers, are the "first" first responders,                                   
07 providing the first communication of the first responders system; and                                                   
08       WHEREAS, operating as a lifeline to law enforcement, firefighters, and medical                                  
09 responders in the field, public safety telecommunicators carry out critical life-saving work as                         
10 part of the first responder system; and                                                                                 
11       WHEREAS public safety telecommunicators receive training and specific emergency                                 
12 medical knowledge essential for the efficient management of emergency medical                                           
13 communications that save lives; and                                                                                     
14       WHEREAS public safety telecommunicators often communicate with people in great                                  
15 distress, harm, fear, or injury, while employing experience and training to recognize a critical                        

01 piece of information; and                                                                                               
02       WHEREAS the service, timeliness, and performance of public safety                                               
03 telecommunicators can have a profound effect on the outcome of a call and can be the                                    
04 difference between life and death; and                                                                                  
05       WHEREAS public safety telecommunicators may endure psychological effects,                                       
06 which, compounded with limited or no avenue for closure post-incident, may lead to the                                  
07 development of post-traumatic stress disorder for public safety telecommunicators; and                                  
08       WHEREAS adequate public safety cannot be achieved without public safety                                         
09 telecommunicators; and                                                                                                  
10 WHEREAS the federal Office of Management and Budget currently classifies public                                       
11 safety telecommunicators as clerical workers in the Standard Occupational Classification                                
12 system; and                                                                                                             
13 WHEREAS reclassifying public safety telecommunicators as a protective service                                         
14 occupation, the same classification as other first responders, such as law enforcement and                              
15 firefighters, affirms the importance of public safety telecommunicators to the broader                                  
16 emergency response system; and                                                                                          
17 WHEREAS the clerical worker classification inhibits public safety                                                     
18 telecommunicators' access to the same benefits to which other first responders have access;                             
19 and                                                                                                                     
20 WHEREAS reclassifying public safety telecommunicators as a protective service                                         
21 occupation is critical to improving recruitment and retaining dispatchers in the state;                                 
22 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature applauds the United States                                           
23 Senate's passing the Enhancing First Response Act (S.725), which reclassifies public safety                             
24 telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational                                    
25 Classification system; and be it                                                                                        
26 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the                                             
27 United States House of Representatives to swiftly pass the Enhancing First Response Act                                 
28 (S.725) or a similar bill.                                                                                              
29 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President                                   
30 of the United States; the Honorable JD Vance, Vice President of the United States and                                   
31 President of the U.S. Senate; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan                                    

01 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S. Representative, members of                             
02 the Alaska delegation in Congress.