In early 2023, more than 50% of 911 centers faced a staffing emergency. My project will study whether Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots can be used within crisis hotlines. This project will first study OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s Gemini Advanced LLMs to see whether they could feasibly work as alternate operators when humans are unable to answer the phone quickly. The other portion of my project will be working with Jacqueline Le and David Evans, a Computer Science professor at the University of Virginia, to investigate the ethical implications of using LLMs within crisis settings. Professor Evans will also be helping me with LLM prompt construction in order to achieve accurate results while staying within the LLM’s safeguards.