Lyon Co. Emergency Communications Center leans into artificial intelligence to cope with strain of staffing shortage
Publish Date: 2026-01-07 23:22:00
Source Domain: www.wibw.com
- Dispatch centers are facing nationwide staff shortages, and Lyon County’s Emergency Communication Center (LCECC) is addressing this issue by integrating a new AI tool named “Betty.”
- Unlike human staff, Betty is an assistive technology that handles non-emergency calls, specifically covering ten types of calls, including minor accidents and animal concerns.
- Betty is designed to ask structured questions like a trained human 911 dispatcher, generating summaries sent via email to human dispatchers.
- Despite the use of AI, two human dispatchers are always present to handle any escalation, ensuring safety and providing backup when needed.
- The goal is to relieve human dispatchers from answering non-essential calls, thereby reducing distractions and focusing on more critical emergency duties.
- Lyon County’s LCECC is among the few in Kansas utilizing this new technology and is currently in a four-month pilot period to evaluate and make necessary adjustments.
