In Saskatchewan alone, 911 operators answered just over 380,000 calls last year. Each of those calls represents a scenario the operators need to come to understand, what's going on, and who needs to get there as fast as they can. It's an incredibly important job that Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Communications in Saskatchewan, Charlene Luskey, thinks we need to talk about.

"They're the first contact that you have in an emergency, or at times, the biggest crisis of your life. They play such an important role behind the scenes, and they aren't always recognized. So it's important we take this opportunity to recognize them and the work that they do."

Because the role of a 911 operator is so important, operators go through extensive training before they take on the job. "The 911 operators, typically it takes up to a year to go through the training that is done in house," Charlene says. "There is different national certifications that are required, they job shadow, mentoring. There is a lot of technology involved. But each peace op has secondary services they provide for Police, fire, or other services. And that training requires extra time."

Charlene wanted to add that one of the biggest obstacles that 911 operators face is ghost calls or pocket dials. Of the 380,000 calls, operators answered in 2018, 16% were classified as these calls. That's a lot of calls that are taking up operators time.

"With lock screens, if a cell phone is in a purse, a pocket, or bag, a lot of times it will dial 911 and the person isn't aware that their phone has done it. It takes a lot of time for operators to call back, or to determine that there isn't actually an emergency. Those calls do tie up operators time."

If you find that you accidentally dialled 911 your asked to stay on the line and confirm with the operator that an emergency is in fact not occurring.