When someone picks up the phone and calls 9-1-1, they automatically assume that help will be coming. But most people don’t know what happens behind the scenes that enables that response — the systems in place to get the right people to the right place and the chain of events that get triggered with every emergency call.
When you make a 9-1-1 call from a landline phone at a residence, business, or other location, the phone number from which you are calling determines which 9-1-1 center receives the call for assistance. Cell phone calls, however, are processed differently, though there are similarities. Cell phones transmit a signal to the nearest cellular tower. The signal is transmitted to the closest 9-1-1 center, as determined by the location of the cell tower that receives the incoming call. Because mobile phone call routing can be complex, cell phone calls are sometimes not routed to the correct 9-1-1 call center; however, 9-1-1 staff are trained to direct your call to the correct center to get the help you need.
For emergency calls originating in the greater Gardner and Fitchburg, Massachusetts area, it all starts in the dispatch center, where trained professionals from MedStar or your local municipal services gather information on the type of emergency being called in. Those skilled professional dispatchers gather as much information as possible to ensure that the closest and most appropriate resources are sent to help. Dispatchers have the ability to activate all emergency services and are the first link in the chain for an emergency response. The dispatcher will quickly determine whether police, fire, or emergency medical services (EMS) is needed and with the use of advanced GPS tracking, can make sure that the closest resource makes it to the scene as quickly as possible.
Here at MedStar, all of our dispatchers are either Emergency Medical Dispatch certified or actual Emergency Medical Technicians themselves. When calling into one of our dispatch centers, you can rest assured that you are speaking with a highly trained professional who will get you the help you need as quickly as possible. In fact, our dispatchers are one of the many reasons that we have some of the fastest response times in the state.
