Kimberly Martin has been named Hanover County Emergency Communications Officer of the Year for 2007.

Martin, a graduate of Lee-Davis High School, has been a member of Emergency Communications since November 2005. She was nominated by her co-workers because of her dedication, professionalism and positive attitude.

Hanover Emergency Communications honored its officers in a recognition ceremony at Hanover Tavern on April 15, 2008.

The department also honored several communications officers for their team performance during an incident involving black ice Dec. 7, 2007. During this event, which resulted in numerous wrecks and several fatalities, Emergency Communications handled 243 emergency calls in three hours.

Recognized for their outstanding performance were Communications Officers Tiffany Dowdy, Preston Main, Kim Martin, Diane Owens, Janie Combs, Lorie Saunders, Barbara Burrow, Kendal Currie, Daniel Sprouse, Ben Nuckols, Amanda Parrish; Senior Supervisors Arlene Sharpe, Dawn Drewry and Corina Nuckols; Operations Manager Bill Perry; and Support Manager Rodney Gentry. Owens also was recognized for her individual performance while working this incident.

Communications Officer Eddie Eacho was recognized for receiving the highest number of peer recognition cards during the past year, and Communications Officer Amanda Parrish was selected as the Communications Training Officer of the Year. Senior Supervisor Cheryl Buchanan was recognized as the Emergency Communications Supervisor of the Year for 2007, and Officers Janie Combs and Keith Lane were honored for their 10 years of service with the department.

The department also recognized Communications Officer Casey Barnette for her outstanding performance using the department's automated emergency medical dispatch protocols.

County Administrator Cecil R. "Rhu" Harris Jr. read and presented the department with a resolution honoring its workers for their dedication, service and sacrifice during National Telecommunicators Week.

The Board of Supervisors established the second week in April as Hanover County Emergency Communications Officer Week. Harris praised all Hanover Emergency Communications and Animal Control personnel for their service, noting the stress and demands placed on them every day.

Last year, the Hanover Emergency Communications Department answered more than 250,000 phone calls from wire-line and wireless phones, both emergency and nonemergency; dispatched more than 77,000 public safety incidents; and coordinated more than 82,000 public safety responses, handling more than 4.1 million radio transmissions. They logged more than 3,400 hours of radio system airtime and sent more than 287,000 alpha-numeric pages.

For more information, call Charlie Udriet, deputy director of Emergency Communications, at (804) 365-6311.