JASPER COUNTY, Mo. — 2021 was a busy year for dispatchers responsible for handling emergency calls in Jasper County.

The call center south of Carthage topped 108,000 phones calls, including traffic with police, fire, and ambulance crews.

It’s up by about 9% from the year before. Workers there say 2022 trends seem to be quieting down in some areas, but others may stay busy.

“I think on the EMS side, definitely related to the pandemic and maybe even on the fire side just because we have rescue going to so many of those calls and helping out EMS on the medical calls. I do think it probably has a lot to do with that. We see a lot of transports on the EMS side, patients moving from hospital to hospital or hospital to facility,” said April Ford, Jasper County Emergency Services.

The Jasper County Operation has been transitioning to a new phone system since the end of 2021 – and now working toward a countywide radio system.