Joelle Burk and Justin Bennett, 911 dispatchers for the Seaside Police Department, are among a group of 21 dispatchers statewide to graduate from the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training’s 95th Basic Telecommunications Class.

The two-week course includes emergency call handling techniques, stress management, civil liability, ethics, criminal law, overview of fire and rescue and law enforcement operations.

Upon completing the course, Burk and Bennett will return to Seaside to continue their training for a number of months with a field training officer.

The 911 training program began in 1993 after the state Legislature required that individuals who receive emergency calls for assistance from the public meet professional standards for training and certification.

There are about 950 people across the state who work as dispatchers in city, county, tribal, regional and state public safety communications centers.

The graduation ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem. Steve Reinke, director of Deschutes County 911, will be the guest speaker at the graduation.