DOTY 2022

Ariana Rios
2022 Dispatcher of the Year

Ariana Rios, who began her career as a 9-1-1 Public Safety Dispatcher at Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 on June 20, 2016, has been named the Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 Dispatcher of the Year for 2022.

Ariana persevered through initial training and was released to Operations as a Public Safety Dispatcher II on August 26, 2017. She continued to expand her skills by becoming fully law cross-trained two months later. She has consistently grown as a dispatcher by taking on additional roles, including Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) and Fire Pod Dispatcher. In July 2020, Ariana was certified as a Spanish bilingual dispatcher.

Ariana is a model of handling high-stress situations with ease. She is patient and kind with callers, working efficiently and calmly while maintaining an empathetic and helpful approach. In July 2022, Ariana spent 40 minutes on the phone with a caller who was armed with a knife, threatening suicide by cop. Throughout this tense situation, Ariana played a vital role in the safe resolution by convincing the caller to put the knife away and walk out to on-scene law personnel.

Ariana is a model of multi-tasking at a high level, providing exceptional service to the Users, community, and co-workers. She currently holds the position of the Vice President of the Employee Association, striving to better the working lives of all employees.  

Ariana Rios was selected by her peers and unanimously endorsed by the Authority’s management team to receive this annual award. As such, it serves as a statement of appreciation for the qualities Ariana possesses from all those who work with her on a daily basis.   

CONGRATULATIONS, ARIANA!