When Dover Police Department responders picked up the phone on August 27th, who knows what was more surprising: that the caller’s ship was sinking, or that he had an East European accent.
The phone call arrived in the US State of Delaware’s capital city, but the man, an Albanian, was talking about the English Channel—over 3,500 miles away.
He was trying to call Dover, one of the most prominent channel port cities in southern England, not Dover, Delaware, but the police dispatcher on the end of the line didn’t waste any time explaining this.
Instead, Communications Operator MacKenzie Atkinson started carefully taking down critical information about the man’s situation, including the name and coordinates of the vessel—piloted by the caller’s brother, who had earlier called him for help getting in touch with emergency services after it started sinking.
Fortunately for the Albanian brothers in England, Atkinson, on the other side of the Atlantic, had recently completed a course from the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch and followed the protocol for a vessel in distress.
Within four minutes, Atkinson’s colleague Connor Logan established contact with the French Coast Guard, His Majesty’s Coastguard, the United Kingdom’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s Coordination Center, and, eventually, the correct ‘Dover’ police station.
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On September 5th, the MCACC confirmed that the vessel had been located and all aboard rescued.
Dover (Delaware) police officials have nominated Atkinson, Logan, and two other communications officers on duty during the emergency for a Distinguished Unit Commendation.
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“The caller had conducted an internet search for the `Dover Police Department’ and the first search result on the screen proved to be the Dover, Delaware Police Department,” police officials said in a news release Thursday. “The family member thought they were calling Dover, England but was connected with our agency here in the United States.”
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