Angie — Training the Future of Emergency Response

Angie began with a simple question: Could generative AI help prepare 911 dispatchers for the moments that matter most?

For Dr. Meiya Ma and her team at Vanderbilt University, the answer didn't start in a lab. It started in a conversation with Metro Nashville's Department of Emergency Communications.

"We first met the Metro Emergency Center team through a conference between Vanderbilt and Metro Nashville," Dr. Ma said. "We discussed the different challenges in the city and what technologies could help support them."

One challenge stood out. Training officers spent countless hours role-playing emergency calls so new dispatchers could practice responding to high-pressure situations.

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"We thought, could generative AI become the caller?" Dr. Ma said.

The result is Angie, an AI-powered training assistant designed to create realistic emergency call scenarios that support dispatcher training. Rather than replacing instructors, Angie helps training officers spend more time coaching and less time acting.

"We will never use it to replace the real training officers," Dr. Ma said. "Instead, we hope this training assistant can be used to really support their training process."

From the beginning, the technology was built alongside the people who would use it.

"We have a human in the loop all the time," Dr. Ma said. "We really learn from our training officers. We collect their valuable feedback and keep improving the software."

For Metro Nashville, the partnership has already made an impact.

"We have been able to decrease overtime for our communications training officers and provide a more realistic call-based scenario for our new hires," said Patrice Coleman, Training Division Manager for Metro Nashville's Department of Emergency Communications.

The collaboration itself is what makes the project unique.

"Never before have I heard of a university such as Vanderbilt collaborating with an emergency communications center to create an AI solution to help train the people who take care of the public when they are facing their worst day," Coleman said.

Through the Nashville Tech Studio, researchers, public servants, and technology leaders came together to solve a real-world problem with the people closest to it.

"This will be something that other centers around the country are able to call on Nashville and ask, 'How did we do it?'" Coleman said.

Angie is helping Nashville Cowrite the Future of Public Safety