What intrigued you to read this blog? Maybe three words stood out to you: “communications center” and “K-9.” We all know that a dog is man’s best friend, and we all understand that animals are a part of our everyday lives. Who doesn't like to walk through the front door after a long day at work and have your best friend there to greet you? Animals provide us with unconditional love and happiness. They also allow you to forget about any problems or stress you might be experiencing in your life. So why not bring a K-9 to work with you?

Working as a 911 dispatch supervisor, I understand the stress we all deal with on a minute-by-minute basis. I also understand your department or organization might not be on board with a K-9 in your center. However, what about the K-9 you currently have working in your own organization? When our K-9’s visit, it's amazing to see how our 911 dispatchers relax and interact with them. Any stress they might have experienced during their current shift is all forgotten during that 10-minute visit. Some dispatchers enjoy the visits so much, they bring in dog treats and store them in their personnel pedestals.

When you start thinking about your 911 Comm Center and those little things you'd really like, you might start to come up with a wish list. Let's face it, everyone has a wish list! The focus is usually on the basics: height adjustable workstations, monitor mounting, cable management, and CPU storage. You've been good all year, right? So ask yourself - what about those little extras on your wish list? What do you really 'want for Christmas?'

I’m always shocked by the number of dispatchers I talk to who have never heard of bias lighting. Typically, when I demo this feature on a workstation, I tend to get quite a few “oohhs” and “aahhs” (a similar reaction to watching a fireworks display). But, not everyone has the opportunity to see this feature live during a product demo, and so for those individuals, this blog is for you.

Bias lighting is, in the simplest terms, backlighting. Backlighting emits a soft white glow behind your computer monitor(s). You might have seen similar techniques deployed on furniture displays at your local IKEA. Yes, it seems as though backlighting is catching on in many industries — and for good reason. So why am I bias about bias lighting and why should some such as a 911 dispatcher care? Two very important answers come to mind:

Staying healthy in the stressful world of EMS communications can be a daunting task. It sometimes seems that every facet of being a 911 dispatcher is designed to keep you comfortably stationary and working at a high efficiency. Coincidentally, the many improvements in ergonomics and layout design have unwittingly contributed to the lack of movement among emergency dispatchers, which has been identified as a leading cause of fitness deterioration. At the same time, being physically fit and well hydrated can positively contribute to our ability to perform in these environments for long hours at a time. When it comes to the health in the 911 dispatch industry, it seems we just can’t win.

All of us have days where you can hardly find time to think, let alone squeeze in a workout. The phones won’t stop ringing, deadlines are looming, and somehow you choose today to leave your lunch on your kitchen counter. When days like these happen, you tend to forget all about the treadmill or the bicycle desks that your company has been nice enough to purchase. Heck, sometimes you even forget to stand up!

Xybix Designer, Rebecca Cassidy and I happen to be grouped together in an office panel system, and we have decided not to let those hectic days/weeks get the best of us. So once an hour throughout each workday, we get up and do something active for about 30 seconds. When you’re logging a 9-hour workday, these small moments add up to about 4 minutes and 30 seconds of overall activity. Not bad!

In May of 2013, Byron Sieber, Director, had eight Xybix consoles installed in the Red River Regional Dispatch Center in Fargo, ND. Recently, Byron purchased a treadmill and bike from Xybix to incorporate into their Dispatch Center. We asked Byron to give us honest feedback about his experience with the treadmills and bikes. Here is what Byron had to say:

Dustmites. Influenza. Common cold. Montezuma’s Revenge (OK, maybe that one’s a little dramatic). If you’ve ever been inside a dispatch center or spoken with dispatchers, you know one of their biggest complaints is that they work in a "petri dish". And in some ways, they do. The reality is that anywhere you find groups of humans working, eating and sneezing, you’ll find extra supplies of germs, viruses and more.

So how can Comm Center Managers combat the swarm of bacteria that constantly invade office environments? Believe it or not, outfitting your dispatch center with certain workstation materials can play an essential role in keeping these pesky goobers at bay.

In the 24/7 work environment of 911 dispatchers and emergency operators, comfort is key — especially when it comes to your computer screen. Long hours spent staring at a monitor can wreak havoc on the eyes, causing eye strain and overall fatigue. But there are ways to optimize the placement and resolution of your computer monitor to create a more ergonomically pleasing picture. Here are two steps to get started:

Recently, at 2014 NENA in Nashville, TN, I was asked by Ricardo Martinez from the Within the Trenches to participate in a podcast about Xybix, our 911 ergonomic workstations and the recently introduced treadmills and bikes. Naturally, I accepted his invitation and  answer quite a few of the questions we've been receiving about the treadmill workstations. Here is what Ricardo came up with. 

Episode topics –

• Xybix history
• Treadmill facts
• Xybix blogs
• Frequently Asked Questions