(PS1-58) Prediction of Emergency Call Priority Codes by Telecommunicators’ Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD

Abstract Text: Telecommunicators, including 911 emergency call takers and dispatchers, prioritize emergency calls; which entails active risk assessment. Coding emergency calls is intricate (Neusteter et al., 2019) and influenced by the telecommunicator's emotional state and beliefs. A review (Smith et al., 2019) found that telecommunicators' duties increase the likelihood of telecommunicators experiencing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which may influence call prioritization. Research has shown that call prioritization by telecommunicators affects police responses to emergencies and can dramatically shape whether police engage aggressively with potential suspects (Gillooly, 2022). Given the pivotal role telecommunicators play in emergency activities, the intersection of telecommunicators' mental health and call prioritization is critical to public health, consistent with the conference's theme. The effect of telecommunicators' mental health on-call coding prioritization has not been assessed. We evaluated the effect of anxiety, depression, and PTSD on telecommunicators' call prioritization.

Telecommunicators across four states were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey. Data collection is ongoing, but 231 telecommunicators have participated. Most participants identified as women (67%) and reported a mean age of 39.8 years. The majority of participants (63%) had 10 years or less of experience as a telecommunicator, and the majority of telecommunicators identified as White (85%). Half of the participants were randomly assigned to listen to a call from a witness reporting an individual with a gun. In contrast, the others were assigned to a call from an older veteran describing suicidal ideation. Prior to listening to the call, all participants completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder-8 Inventory (PTSD-8; Hansen et al., 2010), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Kroenke & Spitzer, 2002). After listening to their call, participants were asked to prioritize the call using a standard call prioritization strategy (1 = no priority and provide support contacts; 2 = no priority and regular police response [no lights or sirens]; 3 = complete code and rapid response [lights and sirens]).
Preliminary data analysis indicated that anxiety was correlated with lower call prioritization (r(107) = .26, p <.01), but PTSD and depression were not (ps > .05). Data collection is ongoing, and future analyses will include a comparison of call groups' call prioritization and whether mental health symptoms are predictive of call prioritization. Results have public health implications and encompass how telecommunicators' needs for mental health services may affect call prioritization and influence police response to 911 calls.