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everyone. We have turnover like any other department, agency or profession, but the training required to be successful at this job takes time. Another challenge is being competitive with surrounding agencies with pay and benefits and being able to get staff the tools they need to do their job and keep them happy.
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You’ve been with Chatham County Emergency Communications for six years – what keeps you there?
LEARN ABOUT THE MAN WHOSE TEAM WE COUNT ON IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY BY LORI D. ROBERTS WIGGINS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
M
eet Mike Reitz, director of the Chatham County 911 Emergency Communications Center. Originally from Maryland, Mike, 45, made North Carolina home in 1999 when he joined the Durham Fire Department to live closer to his brother, Brian Reitz, a retired Durham police officer. For the past six years, Mike has overseen calls for Law Enforcement, Fire, EMS and Rescue for Chatham County. From 2010 to 2021, Chatham had a 38% increase in emergency dispatches, increasing from 47,990 to 66,182 calls. As the county continues to grow, so will the need for emergency resources. Mike has 24 years of public safety experience. He’s been a firefighter, an emergency medical technician, a paramedic and a 911 operator. Mike is also certified as a public safety diver with experience in the technical world of high-angle rope rescues as well as swift water and confined space rescues. He’s been deployed across the state and country to help communities manage and respond to emergencies.
What qualities do you bring to the job and to Chatham County?
Experience, knowledge, skills and abilities. The 24 years of combined public safety experience. I’m also honest and understanding. Everything I do is for my staff and the community we serve. I try to surround myself with good people and give them the tools and direction to do their jobs. What is the greatest challenge of your job?
Staffing – this profession is not for everyone. It is a very rewarding career to be able to help someone in an emergency and get help to them, but it is not for 42
CHATHAM MAGAZINE
SUMMER 2023
Mike Reitz stands with his emergency vehicle in front of the Chatham County 911 Emergency Communications Center.
Chatham is our home. My wife and I met in Carrboro at the South Orange Rescue Squad, and now we have three kids. Our two sons, Owen, 9, and Landon, 7, attend Haw River Christian Academy in Silk Hope, and our daughter Blythe is 18 months. My wife and I love the area, and we are excited about the future of the county with the growth and opportunities, including all of the restaurants, shopping, parks and trails. What has been the greatest accomplishment at Chatham County Emergency Communications under your leadership?
There are two capital improvement projects I have been working on since starting here. One is the countywide radio system upgrade project. The project brings a modern radio system to the county that desperately needed an upgrade. The old system was 25-30 years old. We now have interoperability with surrounding counties and state agencies. We also improved the coverage and capacity of the system. Every public safety agency in the county also received new radios for their responders and vehicles. The second project is the new 911 center and emergency operations center. This new building will collocate two county departments – emergency communications and emergency management. The old 911 center is outdated and no longer allows room to