Manager of the Centre, Juliette Gooding, said her department is doing an excellent job but some personnel at closely linked agencies have failed to deliver due recognition.

The police, ambulance and fire services work with the Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) in responding to emergencies in Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.

"I would really like to see our department having the respect it deserves from the emergency responders who work with the different agencies and the public," she said.

From its inception in September 1996, the ECC faced several challenges including acceptance from the supporting agencies like the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.

"I think we have come a long way where there was always that question mark, especially from the police where you're used to having officers in uniform," she said.

"If you belong to a particular agency you tend to feel that your agency knows your job better than anybody else and that's possibly true.

"However, because of the training we give to our staff we get to understand the nature of other people's emergencies," she said.

Ms Gooding knows too well the organisation's high and low points, having started off as its first manager ten years ago.

"There was that time where we had to work hard for them to trust us, that we're going to be there for them, that we're going to give them good information, and we know what we're doing."

Despite the few doubting responders, the 911 Emergency Communications Centre has achieved a landmark, according to its leader.

"I think we have reached that point where each agency can basically say 'you guys are doing a good job, we really appreciate having you, we don't know what we will do without you' - to me that's a milestone, that's a landmark."

Excellence is being attached to the decade-long performance of this Internal and External Portfolio department by its management.

"I think that we have achieved a certain level of excellence in terms of training, our standards and the ability to help others in a timely manner, that's pretty important for us," she said.

The role of the 911 operators, according to Ms Gooding, is very crucial hence the need to get it right all the time.

"We're the first line of contact for anybody who has an emergency and if we get it wrong then obviously everybody down the line might get it wrong. We have to be the very best we can be and that to me is very important."

Speaking about the training of her staff, Ms Gooding said that the theoretical and practical preparations have been thorough.

She disclosed that new recruits receive up to a year's training in the first instance with first aid, CPR, basic telecommunication skills and medical dispatch classes.

Trainees also learn how the body works, medical terminology, dealing with angry and emotionally distressed callers while maintaining their professionalism, and various types of fires.

Between three to six months, the new entrants will be assigned to a supervisor who evaluates them in a daily observation report.

As part of their course, the new employees accompany responders to gain a first hand knowledge of emergency situations and learn the kind of support needed from 911 dispatchers.

The operators work four-day rotation shifts, comprising four employees per schedule, plus several others 'floating' during the day.

As the ECC enters its eleventh year, Ms Gooding wants to see her organisation play a bigger role in disaster preparedness in the Cayman Islands.

"What we would like to see down the road is that we're more involved in disaster management and preparation.

"While we may not be on the road responding initially, we have started training in disaster management so that they can fill into different areas of response," she said.

In some quarters the Emergency Communications Centre is not seen as having an important role to play in disaster management, Ms Gooding said.

"I think some people don't see it as important. The truth is a lot of us don't think of emergencies, we only react when it happens, so we're not prepared," she said.

The ECC said that it plans to sensitise the general public on the importance of using the 911 services properly.