Somerset County 911 Uses GovWorx AI Training for Dispatchers

SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa. — As artificial intelligence becomes more common, emergency officials in Somerset County are using it to help 911 dispatchers train for emergency situations.

At the Somerset County 911 center, dispatchers are being trained with a new AI system that can simulate callers reporting virtually any emergency. The tool creates realistic practice scenarios by acting as an interactive caller that can respond to a dispatcher’s questions, allowing trainees and experienced dispatchers to work through situations in a new way.

According to 911 Coordinator Shawn Ware, Somerset County EMA is using the system to simulate emergencies ranging from tornadoes to school shootings.

“It can simulate anything from a tornado to a school shooting to things that you hope never happen, but it’s there,” Ware said. “Our plan is to keep this going and train our dispatchers each month with a different scenario.”

Officials said all training for new dispatchers will involve the AI system, and they expect it to be useful for seasoned dispatchers as well.

“It gives them an interactive caller that can actually answer questions the way a real person would answer questions and gives us the ability to make the scenario more realistic for them so that it’s better practice answering a real call,” said Craig Hollis-Nicholson, 911 operations manager.

Emergency officials said the realistic practice is intended to help dispatchers stay calmer during real emergencies and reinforce best practices. Brian Ishman, 911 training coordinator, said maintaining composure can affect how a caller responds.

“If you’re frantic the caller is going to be more frantic,” Ishman said. “We want them to go into when they come onto the floor there’s no doubt.”

Ware said the additional training should better prepare dispatchers for unusual or high-stress situations.

“I think they’ll be much improved, I think they’ll be ready for a scenario that they normally don’t have,” Ware said. “Our more advanced dispatchers and our new trainees, it just gives them more of a real-life scenario.”

Somerset emergency officials said they plan to keep looking for ways to use AI in the field and to make operations run as smoothly as possible.