Kevin Harskamp
I am nominating Kevin Harskamp as EMS Dispatcher of the year.
Too often, Dispatchers are the forgotten part of our 911 chain.
They also frequently do not hear what happened with the people
they engaged with at one of the tensest times of their lives.
This nomination is only a small way for us to say thank you to
such a deserving team member in our area.
Kevin has been dispatching in Sioux County for 28 years and
O’ Brien County part time for 16 years. He started his career in
Sioux County in 1992 and has risen to the position of
Supervisor. During this time, he has seen our system advance as
well as go through several major technological updates.
For many years, Kevin was also a volunteer member of the
Boyden Ambulance providing him with ideal in the field training
for his job as a Dispatcher. Even when he is not on scene, he
can attempt to visualize and see what may be needed without
having all the information from the 911 caller. Over the years I
have often heard other EMS, Fire, or Law Enforcement members
say, “that’s why dispatch seemed so calm” or “that why we knew
so much” or “he knew to ask us if we needed more help”. His
calming voice is well known across our county, and when it is a
little higher pitched, said a little faster, or does not sound
calm at all, we all know “things probably aren’t good”. As
providers in the field, seldom do we have to ask more than once
for information or changes to our situations from the
Communications Center. Kevin just gets the job done.
On the administrative side of things, Kevin address any
conflict between dispatch and a responding team head on. He is
quick to pull the recorded logs and listen to them together. In
such situations we have both walked away saying there are things
we can learn, assumptions to stop making and training to bring
back to our teams. Recently due to the COVID outbreak I asked
him if there was a way to create a virtual tour of the
Communication Center, since my new members cannot access the
center in person. Kevin responded they had already created a
virtual tour on their website and offered me that information.
Prior to sending this letter, I contacted the Sioux County
EMS Association and have received full backing for this
nomination. I also contacted his supervisor at both the Sioux
County and O’Brien County Communication Centers and have
received their endorsements. I am nominating Kevin Harskamp as
EMS Dispatcher of the year. Too often, Dispatchers are the
forgotten part of our 911 chain. They also frequently do not
hear what happened with the people they engaged with at one of
the tensest times of their lives. This nomination is only a
small way for us to say thank you to such a deserving team
member in our area.
Kevin has been dispatching in Sioux County for 28 years and
O’ Brien County part time for 16 years. He started his career in
Sioux County in 1992 and has risen to the position of
Supervisor. During this time, he has seen our system advance as
well as go through several major technological updates.
For many years, Kevin was also a volunteer member of the
Boyden Ambulance providing him with ideal in the field training
for his job as a Dispatcher. Even when he is not on scene, he
can attempt to visualize and see what may be needed without
having all the information from the 911 caller. Over the years I
have often heard other EMS, Fire, or Law Enforcement members
say, “that’s why dispatch seemed so calm” or “that why we knew
so much” or “he knew to ask us if we needed more help”. His
calming voice is well known across our county, and when it is a
little higher pitched, said a little faster, or does not sound
calm at all, we all know “things probably aren’t good.” As
providers in the field, seldom do we have to ask more than once
for information or changes to our situations from the
Communications Center. Kevin just gets the job done.
On the administrative side of things, Kevin address any
conflict between dispatch and a responding team head on. He is
quick to pull the recorded logs and listen to them together. In
such situations we have both walked away saying there are things
we can learn, assumptions to stop making and training to bring
back to our teams. Recently due to the COVID outbreak I asked
him if there was a way to create a virtual tour of the
Communication Center, since my new members cannot access the
center in person. Kevin responded they had already created a
virtual tour on their website and offered me that information.
Prior to sending this letter, I contacted the Sioux County
EMS Association and have received full backing for this
nomination. I also contacted his supervisor at both the Sioux
County and O’Brien County Communication Centers and have
received their endorsement.
