NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- As 911 calls continue to rise, Nashville emergency services said it is drastically short on people.

Troy Critese, a local 911 dispatcher said his already frantic workdays have extended to equally frantic overtime.

"It's crazy busy," said Critese. ""It's just always, 'We need people, we need people, we need people.'"

Officials said vacancies at metro 911 are at the highest in recent memory -- 36 total and most are openings for dispatchers. Workers said their work keeps piling up.

"Over the past few years, we've noticed an increase in 911 calls," said Nashville 911 spokeswoman Amanda Sluss.

She said the unrelenting calls and few employees are forcing the 911 center to make tough choices. She said they created an overtime sign-up board. No dispatcher is required to take overtime, but she said every shift has multiple openings.

"I'm working about 30 hours overtime a week -- so about 70 hours total," said Crites.

Sluss said that despite the hardships, emergency services haven’t faltered. She said that the non-emergency, however, have gotten slower.

The reason behind the shortages is simple -- extremely high turnover among dispatchers.

"You have like a baby die on the phone with you, or you're giving CPR, or you have a tragic accident -- and a lot of people can't handle that," said Critese.

Another big problem Sluss said part of the problem with retaining dispatchers is that the job requires months of training. For dispatchers to be fully trained on police, fire and ambulance calls training can take up to four years.