Emergency Dispatch

Featured Case Study

A self-initiated information design and motion project exploring how design can make high-stakes decision-making easier to understand.

The Challenge

When someone calls 911, they don’t enter a line. They enter a system that evaluates urgency, assigns priority, and routes the right resources in real time.

My Role

Concept, art direction, information design, and motion design.

The Approach

Using color, geometry, and motion, I created a visual language that explains how emergency calls move from intake to dispatch.

Instead of dramatizing the emergency, the project reveals the decision-making process behind every response.

Each point is a decision.

The highlighted path follows a single call from intake to response.

Decision Logic

01 INTAKE 02 NATURE 03 BREATHING 04 SEVERITY 05 RESOURCE 06 DISPATCH
A B C D E ALPHA – ECHO (LOOKUP, NOT A CHOICE) INTAKE POLICE FIRE MEDICAL BREATHING NORMALLY NOT BREATHING ALS + ENGINE DISPATCH + pre-arrival CPR instructions given
Fixed step
Decision fork
Lookup code
This call's path

How the System Decides

Follow a single emergency call as it moves through triage, prioritization, and dispatch.

Production Script

A behind-the-scenes look at how the visual system was translated into motion, timing, and sequence.

From System to Interface

The same decision logic applied to a dispatch dashboard for managing calls, resources, and priorities in real time.

Coverage Mapping
Available
En route
On scene
Gap >8 min
Call Queue
ACTIVE25
P14
P26
P39
P46
Status Updates Live
UNIT 12AVAILABLE
UNIT 07AVAILABLE
UNIT 21ON SCENE
UNIT 03AVAILABLE
UNIT 18EN ROUTEETA 03:39
UNIT 05AVAILABLE
UNIT 09ON SCENE

Dispatch, Explained

Interactive diagrams reveal how emergency calls move through the system.

Call-to-response sequence

A call moves through triage, classification, and dispatch. Each step re-evaluates priority as new information enters the system.

Call Received
Caller connects to PSAP
Triage
Location · incident · caller status
CAD Entry
Computer-Aided Dispatch populates
Resource Check
Available units assessed in real time
Dispatch
Closest viable unit assigned
Queue Shift
System recalculates around the next call

Network logic

Calls are routed through a live system shaped by priority, proximity, availability, and load.

Design principles

The visual system avoids drama. Tension comes from the logic of the board.