Montreal 911 dispatchers recall worst and best of the job in show-and-tell tour

When you call 911 in Montreal or Laval, you are directed to emergency medical dispatchers, who get an ambulance to you within seven to nine minutes.

But how do they do it?

• *See video above for show-and-tell tour.

"We receive 375,000 calls a year, 1,000 calls a day," said Urgences Sante director of communications Vincent Brouillard. "Yes indeed, [it's] very stressful, very rewarding."

Calls come in from all over the islands of Montreal and Laval, and all ambulances' locations show up on a map in real-time.

Dispatcher Maude Prevost is one of those asked to prioritize situations by their urgency and send paramedics accordingly. Those emergencies can be everything from labour pains to cardiac arrest.

One call in particular sticks in her mind: "A teenager who was a suicide attempt with narcotics -- the screaming of the mom was so emotional, my eyes were full of water, my heartbeat was palpitating," she said.

"It was very stressful for me. [It's] hard for a mother to know her teenager is not with us... she did the chest compressions, she was good at it and the paramedics came and brought her back to life. I went home and cried and needed to see the psychologist."

The dispatchers coach callers through very intense situations in English, French and other languages as needed.

In turn, they have a psychologist ready to support them, too.

Harris Hujic has personal reasons for working as a dispatcher for the past four and a half years.

"I had a car accident in 2013 that left me paralyzed, and that can help me have empathy for callers in car accidents and other situations," he said.

"I was unconscious and I woke up after surgery and the police officers came to tell me exactly what happened, and I decided to do something in that field."

The last two years have been particularly difficult for dispatchers who have been under more pressure than usual, they say.

At the same time, however, "I realized the impact I can make on callers and society," said Hujic.