It’s a call nobody wants to make. When someone picks up the phone and dials 911, it’s probably because they or someone they know is hurt.
Dispatchers at the Phoenix Fire Dispatch Center are standing by.
“We are very busy," said Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Reda Bigler. "It’s constantly moving in this place,”
The dispatch center handles more than a million calls a year. Dispatchers determine how many of those calls end with a paramedic or ambulance sent out.
“There are some people that call 911 all the time," Bigler said. "And we track those calls."
When paramedics are sent to a call, it reduces the number of firefighters covering an area. So an emergency call as simple as a twisted ankle could potentially result in slower service for a heart attack or drowning call.
That's why some cities are considering using Uber or taxi drivers to transport emergency but non-critical patients.