What happens when you dial 911?

WASILLA -- "911, what is the location of your emergency?" is the first question a Mat-Su Borough 911 caller should hear when dispatchers answer their call, according to Palmer Police Dispatch Supervisor Karen Ripley.

"We want the location first, then the nature of the emergency," Ripley said. From there, Ripley said dispatchers transfer callers to the appropriate agency -- ambulance, fire, rescue, animal control, forestry or law enforcement.

Ripley said the dispatchers relay exact driving directions to whatever agency responds to the call via a conference call in which the dispatcher and the emergency responder are on the phone together.

Matanuska Telephone Association has a contract with the Mat-Su Borough to relay all information about the location and phone number identification to the Palmer dispatch center. Each time a person dials 911, the call first goes through an automated number and location finder through MTA and then is quickly transferred to the 911 dispatchers.

The entire process takes only a few seconds but it saves callers the responsibility of having to convey accurate driving directions to their home in the middle of an emergency.

Ripley encourages home owners to make sure the driving directions they give to MTA are accurate. If they are unsure or want to update the driving directions, they should first call the Palmer Police Department business line at 745-4811 and ask if they can call 911 to clarify or update the driving directions to their home. It is important to first call the business line to make sure that 911 dispatchers are not busy with emergency calls before calling to clarify driving directions.

Ripley said that if someone calls 911 and their address does not match the place where they currently live, the person can tell the dispatcher the new address and the dispatcher will automatically update the information.

In an effort to assure callers that they have reached the correct location for law-enforcement assistance, dispatchers at the new Wasilla Police Department dispatch center are answering all their incoming calls, whether they be on the business lines or 911 lines, with the identification, "Public safety dispatch center."

Wasilla Police Chief Don Savage said callers can make a dispatcher's job a lot easier by trying to remain calm when relaying information. Shouting and screaming into the phone only makes the dispatcher's job more difficult, Savage said.

Both Savage and Ripley said the number of 911 calls is increasing as the years go by. They cited a growing population in the Valley as well as more cell-phone calls as the cause of the increased volume.

One way to make sure 911 lines are not unnecessarily tied up, according to Ripley, is not to call asking for phone numbers or other non-emergency questions.

Despite the higher number of 911 calls, Savage and Ripley both said they prefer people to call when they think there might be an emergency situation, rather than not call at all or hope that someone else will make the call.