There's a lot going on behind the scenes of a 911 call.

As dispatchers take down as much information about the emergency as they can get, RCMP, fire, ambulance – potentially all three, depending on the circumstances – are in motion getting ready and heading to the scene.

On Wednesday afternoon, the three organizations hosted an information session for media as part of National Telecommunications Week, which will end Saturday.

"We're all at different buildings but we're all connected,” Gaylene Shoemaker, manager of the local RCMP's operational communications centre, told reporters. She was referring to the police, Whitehorse Fire Department and the ambulance service.

While Whitehorse residents can call 911 in case of any emergency, Yukon communities are without 911 service.

Consequently, they must dial their local three-digit area number followed by 5555 for RCMP, 2222 for fire or 4444 for medical emergencies.

The initial call made to 911 goes to RCMP dispatch. If it is a fire or medical emergency, dispatchers have a button they press that routes the call to either of those parties.

Whitehorse Fire Chief Clive Sparks knows what it's like to be on both sides of the call – having called 911 in emergency situations and dealing with emergency calls for his department to respond to.

Three seconds can feel like an hour when you're waiting for any emergency service, he acknowledged as he, EMS officials and RCMP stressed that callers need to stay on the phone with dispatchers so all critical information can be obtained.

"It's really important they stay on the line,” Shoemaker said.

While the questions dispatchers ask may seem odd, the more information that's given, the better it is in assessing the required response.

As the information is given, it is relayed to those who are responding to the scene.

"It's all part of the response to get you what you need as fast as you can,” said EMS director Mike McKeage.

Details of the call help determine, for example, whether emergency vehicles need lights and sirens to be flashing, how many personnel may rush to a scene, what vehicles and equipment will be brought and any precautions that need to be taken when they arrive.

In the case of EMS, dispatchers have first aid training. They will often instruct callers on how to deal with the situation until the ambulance – or medevac flight – arrives.

A recent call, for example, came in from Herschel Island off the Yukon's north coast, where an individual in a tour group required attention and had to be medevaced out.

EMS communications supervisor Kirstin Sinclair has worked as both a paramedic and in dispatch. She noted it can be more stressful to be dealing with a medical emergency over the phone than being at the scene.

And last year, she helped deliver a baby by phone before EMS arrived at the scene.

Dispatchers often debrief about their calls and, in some cases, further counselling services are available if needed.

As Shoemaker pointed out, it takes a certain type of person to take on the role of dispatcher and deal with emergency situations.

One of the biggest stressers for Whitehorse dispatchers is the high likelihood they know the caller.

"Here, it's up close and personal,” McKeage said. The importance of services for dispatchers to help them deal with the traumatic situations they respond to on a regular basis, he added.

For the RCMP, it can take months before an applicant is hired on with a process that involves not only a criminal record check, but also medical and psychological testing.

There's also an extensive training program that dispatchers go through. The newest RCMP dispatcher recruit recently travelled to Red Deer, Alta. to do the training before returning to the territory for the on-the-job portion of the training.

While there's little doubt dispatchers deal with very stressful situations on a regular basis, Shoemaker said, there's surprisingly little turnover.

As she pointed out, anyone who makes it through the application process and training are likely well-suited to the role.

While the Whitehorse detachment has 12 dispatchers, EMS has four full-time positions along with paramedics also trained to fill in when needed. The local fire department has four in the full-time role along with one casual and a supervisor.

And over the years, they've dealt with their share of strange calls.

In one case, Sparks said, someone called their 911 dispatch service to find out how much a gallon of water weighs. As it turns out, it's 10 lbs.

"We get calls like that which are the humorous calls,” Sparks said.

He also recalled a hoax someone called in one time about a car veering off the road and having a tree fall through the windshield. Emergency crews spent a huge amount of time and resources trying to find the crash scene that never was.

The calls can vary from those looking for trivia answers to life-and-death situations, and, as Sparks noted, there's a sort of "tingly” feeling that comes when the emergency call comes in.

"You're just sort of waiting,” he said.

Officials said they were were pleased to hear Justice Minister Mike Nixon acknowledge the work of dispatch staff in the legislature recently.