RapidSOS AI helps dispatchers respond to emergencies faster
BUTLER TWP — Dispatchers at Butler County’s Emergency Communications Center use artificial intelligence to identify the caller’s location and translate instantly.
The communications center utilizes RapidSOS, a public safety AI company that immediately identifies the caller’s location, device language, emergency contacts and transmits video from the scene.
RapidSOS demonstrated its Unite software Wednesday, Jan. 14, at the communications center as part of an exclusive screening it sponsored for the second episode of season two of “The Pitt,” a medical drama based on the Allegheny General Hospital Emergency Department. The episode was debuted to AGH health care staff that evening.
“The partnership we have is really unique,” said Rob McLafferty, the county’s 911 coordinator. “It’s really an opportunity for us to get data from the scene that we were never able to see before.”
The system sends a caller’s emergency contacts from their Apple or Google health apps to the communications center when the call is placed, according to Kaye Straight, vice president of branding and communications for RapidSOS. She recommended users fill out their medical information in the apps to use the feature and mark emergency contacts on their phones.
“We’re in such a time of change,” Straight said.
The system also shows dispatchers the device language and translates in real time, pings the person’s location and allows the caller to transmit video to the dispatcher.
Dispatchers sit at a desk with sometimes more than eight monitors. Four show the computer-aided dispatch system, one has a radio, one shows the RapidSOS system, and two are resource computers. The resource computers can be used to look up on-call lists for the county, or when a dispatcher must file a report with FirstEnergy.
McLafferty said the translation feature is used the most by truck drivers and vehicles traveling through the county on interstates. He said the communications center had used the RapidSOS location software for years, but didn’t implement the transcription and translation feature until last year.
Chris Fessides, who has worked at the communications center since 2012, said dispatchers previously used AT&T’s translation line for callers who didn’t speak English. Dispatchers would call the line, enter a six-digit pin, then explain the situation.
“We would have to ask (the translator) questions,” Fessides said, “then they would translate it for them to talk to that person, and then they talk back to us, and it’s just really slow processing the call.”
The communications center still has access to the translation line in case of emergencies.
McLafferty said the communications center typically staffs six or seven dispatchers during daylight hours and four overnight. He said the slowest point of the day is usually between 2 and 6 a.m.
The busiest day of the year for 911 centers is July 4, Straight said. The second season of “The Pitt” is based during one 12-hour shift July 4.
The software also provides an AI summary and a transcription of the call, which comes in handy if dispatchers need to check a call-back number, or if a supervisor needs to assist.
“It’s a game changer as far as speed when processing calls,” Fessides said.
Hannah Ross, who has worked at the center for a year, explained the system is very accurate in pinging the closest address or intersection.
“It’s very accurate with cellphone pings and stuff like that,” Ross said, “especially if you get in an accident at an intersection and nobody knows where they are.”
McLafferty added it also helps when callers are lost in wooded areas. He remembered one such incident, and dispatchers could see exactly where they were and sent help.
However, the system can also detect when a caller is moving and the path they took, so dispatchers tell callers to stay put even if they start to get their bearings.
“But the nice part about it is we were literally able to see right away where she’s at and send help to her,” McLafferty said.
He said Butler County’s CAD system is also connected with Lawrence, Mercer and Venango counties. He recalled an incident years ago where phone lines went down, and the center could not receive 911 calls.
He said RapidSOS contacted them and saw calls were still being placed but not answered. Venango County was conducting a trial period of the RapidSOS system at that time, so the two communications centers could connect, share their map and call data and reach callers whose calls couldn’t reach the center.
Nate Blackwood, a supervisor at the communications center and the Prospect Volunteer Fire Department chief, said a caller recently used the ability to transmit video to show dispatchers a fire.
Blackwood said while working as a firefighter, a dispatcher notified him they were transmitted video during the 911 call of a home fully engulfed in fire.
“It clues you in right away that you’re going to need a lot of hands when you get there,” he said.
The video works by the operator pressing a button while on the line with the caller. From there, a link is sent to the caller’s phone for them to click and approve the dispatcher’s access to their camera.
Straight said the AI technology fills gaps in communications centers created by being understaffed. McLafferty added the software eases the burden dispatchers face by being the “first” first responders. Dispatchers are often assessing the situation and giving medical or de-escalation advice before emergency services arrive.
