There's a hum of activity even on a slow day. Several screens tower over each 911 dispatcher, and there are usually four or five dispatchers. Red and green lights flicker on and off indicating when one of them is on the phone or radio.
This room is dark. But it's organized. And it withstood the chaos of 605 calls in five hours when three tornadoes left a trail of damage during a vicious storm that pummeled Sheboygan County on Aug. 28, 2018.
A year later, some protocols have changed as a result, and that day is one the staff of the Sheboygan County Emergency Communications Center will not soon forget. On any given day, the Emergency Communications Center will take around 450 calls that run the gamut — traffic accidents and medical emergencies, but also problems with someone on social media, or parents having difficulty getting a child out of bed.
Some are the scenarios for which the system was designed. Some callers are told they need to look elsewhere for help.