“This is 911, what is your emergency?”

“My neighbor assaulted me again; I’m injured and scared—I don’t know if he is coming back.”

When this call comes in, who responds? Police to address the perpetrator and secure the scene? Fire/EMS to attend to the injured victim? Is the assailant truly a bad person or is there an underlying, unmet behavioral health or addiction need? What if first responders dual dispatch? Can multiple agencies realistically arrive on scene together? If not, will the responders be safe? And how can the problem be solved in the long term?

Unfortunately, the answers are complex, and as public safety staffing struggles and demand increases, community members wait for help while emergency telecommunicators do their best to weigh the safety threat to first responders against the needs of the caller, system demand, and increasingly limited resources. To find real solutions, all of public safety must commit to meaningful partnerships.