Telecommunicators with the Watauga County Sheriff's Office must go through extensive training to field emergency calls. Watauga County's Assistant Telecommunications Chief David Hill said Watauga's telecommunicators are well trained and competitively compensated to a level that attracts the most dedicated applicants. Hill said that although several states don't require that 911 operators be trained in CPR, North Carolina, and specifically Watauga County, makes sure operators are CPR certified.  Hill said telecommunicators are also prepared through a yearlong training and certification program. Hill said Watauga County Sheriff's Office telecommunicators answered an average of 3,400 genuine 911 calls and over 23,000 administrative calls before the snow and ice events in December.  Hill added that many 911 operators slept and ate in the 911 Center for several days during the ice storm.