Surrounded by computer screens, L.J. Silva awaits calls at the Cambridge Emergency Communications Department. Even non-emergency calls reach human staffers in Cambridge. Few other cities provide that level of service.

Surrounded by 53 computer screens, more than 15 telephones, and dozens of notebooks stuffed with protocols, shift supervisor Kirk A. Wornum, 43, sits behind his desk at the City of Cambridge Emergency Communications Department, ready to handle any emergency.

Located just south of Sanders Theatre in the same building as the Cambridge Fire Department, the office where Wornum works is charged with answering, responding to, and monitoring all of the 911 phone calls placed in Cambridge.

Wornum’s desk is one of nine in the crowded room, each equipped with three phones, a switchboard laden with 84 black buttons, and four computer screens—some of which can graphically display the location of the 911 caller.

In his navy blue slacks and City of Cambridge sweatshirt, Wornum is relaxed even as the phones start to ring, buttons begin to light up, and dispatchers calmly tell callers how to handle their emergencies.

The Emergency Communications Department serves a three-fold function for Cambridge’s citizens: it dispatches emergency responders to the scene; it instructs callers on how to deal with emergencies that can’t wait; and it acts as a centralized switchboard for all municipal departments and services, such as the fire and police departments.

The department receives 250,000 calls each year, one-fifth of which are emergency calls.

And Wornum boasts that Cambridge is one of the few cities whose non-911 callers interact with a human operator and not an automated directory. Many cities use automated systems to answer municipal inquiries instead of hiring workers to do it because the funds that would have been funneled into salaries for personnel can be redirected to other services.

“The cost [of switching to an automated system] isn’t that bad, but the cost in loss of service wouldn’t be worth it,” Wornum says.

DISPATCHING HELP

Wornum answers calls the same way every dispatcher answers call after call, “911, your call will be recorded. What is the exact location of your emergency?”

Location is the most important part of the job at the command center, Wornum says, because without a location, no help can be dispatched.

“You may tell us you’re having a heart attack,” he says. “But if we don’t know where you are, there’s nothing we can do.”

As the phones continue to ring, the staff—five to seven dispatchers depending on the time of day—echoes the response throughout the room. Dispatchers then call firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to the scene, following the hundreds of detailed pages of protocol they must memorize for each situation.

Sometimes, the organizational structure of the department can break down, and Wornum has to jump to repair it.

Equipment failure is one such problem. Two weeks ago, two dispatchers were talking to two separate callers, and one of them tried to hang up by pressing the release button. But the button stuck, the two calls crossed, and the 911 caller was couldn’t communicate clearly with the dispatcher, L.J. Silva.

Silva rushed to get contact information for the 911 caller so they could talk without interception. In addition to his duties as a dispatcher, Wornum must handle whatever complications arise on the spot. He dropped his relaxed demeanor and acquired a sense of immediate purpose, placing a quick phone call to get the button repaired as quickly as possible. He says it is sometimes necessary to be brusque in order to convey the urgency of the situation to the repair company.

The department also is responsible for bringing extra help to Cambridge in the case of a large-scale fire or emergency—a 10-alarm fire, for example, requires aid from all of Cambridge’s surrounding cities. Dispatchers then contact emergency workers from nearby towns to move in and help. This system is dubbed “mutual aid.” Each time another city’s personnel comes in to help,  workers from cities even further afield must move in to take their position.

“It’s important to bring everyone in close so you aren’t waiting a long time for people to get where you need them,” Wornum says.

NOT JUST DELEGATION, BUT ACTION, TOO

When a dispatcher received a call two weeks ago from a resident who smelled gas, he had to contact the gas company immediately. Because the fire department had to stay on the scene until the gas company arrived, it was the responsibility of the dispatcher to get the gas company’s estimated time of arrival for the fire department.

The procedure that dispatchers must follow is different for each emergency, and all of them are stored in a one-and-a-half-inch-thick binder for each emergency department—for example, fire and police have hundreds of protocols each. The staff memorizes these books in what Wornum describes as one of the toughest parts of the job.

Each dispatcher, however, is also trained to handle situations in which help is needed while emergency personnel is en route to the scene. These situations include suicidal callers and those trying to assist women who are giving birth. If a caller is helping someone who is in labor, it is the dispatcher who leads the caller through delivering the child until the emergency responders arrive.

In addition, dispatchers have access to a list of all Harvard students with disabilities, Wornum said. If there is a fire or other emergency at the University, the Harvard University Police Department may be called first, but the command center is also contacted. Dispatchers need to know which rooms may contain a disabled student so they can direct help there first.

PILLAR OF THE CITY

The center receives 200,000 calls that are not connected to any emergency. This is when the command center takes on the role of a veritable citywide switchboard—an entity that receives concerns and inquiries, such as a citizen wanting to reach the police chief, and redirects them to the appropriate city agency.

The department plays an integral role in street-cleaning. When the city tows cars from the street to let the streetsweeper through, the command center receives a list of the cars’s locations and license plates. If someone inquires after a missing car, the command center handles the call. Wornum says this is an example of city agencies collaborating.

“The police remove the cars, the traffic department places the signs, public works does the cleaning, and we tell you where the cars are,” he says.

In addition, the department also assists police in identifying individuals with outstanding warrants.

If a person calls 911 from a land line, the location from which they are calling and name to which the number is registered pop up on computer screen in the office. Dispatchers have access to a criminal justice database, which has a record of all the crimes committed in Cambridge, Mass., and in other states. If the callers have any infractions—from revoked driver’s licenses to warrants for their arrest—the dispatcher will know immediately and alert the police.

The average time spent at the command center is three to five years, and the turnover rate is high, according to Emergency Communications and 911 Director George L. Fosque. Wornum says part of the reason is that dispatchers go on to become firefighters and police officers.

Wornum, who has been with the department for 10 years, originally wanted to work in the fire service or the police department himself.

“I actually turned down those jobs to keep this one,” he says, adding that he liked communications better.

But, “it’s a hard job,” Chief of Emergency Operations Paula M. Snow says. And the numbers agree. Each dispatcher is responsible for correctly operating 300 buttons at any given time, all in the name of emergency service.