Leeds Beckett University and Integrated Care 24 KTP 24_25 R4

Call-handlers in urgent care settings will get a new system that spots when they are becoming dangerously stressed and steps in to help. This matters because call-handlers take life-or-death calls while facing constant pressure, high volume, and emotional intensity. Current systems do not actively monitor their stress levels or offer real-time support. The gap is practical: no integrated system exists that can both identify rising stress and deliver an intervention in the middle of a shift. If this research succeeds, the system will be embedded into daily operations at urgent care centres. Call-handlers could receive prompts to pause, breathe, or switch tasks before stress impairs their judgment. This could reduce burnout, improve decision-making on calls, and lower staff turnover in a sector where experienced workers are hard to replace. The impact is on the quiet infrastructure of emergency response—the people who answer when you dial for help. The project is applied and commercial in nature, not fundamental science. It aims to produce a working tool for a specific workplace, not to advance general knowledge about stress.