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Polk awards 911 specialists awards for recent lifesaving measures

COLUMBUS—Polk County recognized 3 employees this week for their lifesaving efforts recently. 

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Monday gave awards to 911 Communication Specialists James McGuinn, Janae Nelon and Miranda Martin. 

Polk County Sheriff Tim Wright and 911 Communications Director Jeremy Gregg presented the awards. 

Gregg said the 3 specialists saved lives recently on 2 separate incidents by providing live saving CPR instructions over the telephone. 

“The 911 communications profession is often forgetting aspect of the emergency services community,” Gregg said. “We have the voice behind the telephone that is rarely seen. It is often forgotten that we serve as ‘the first’ first responder. By gathering information from the caller or providing live saving instructions to the caller we are there before any help arrives.”