Blog

When the Power Goes Out: What Dispatchers Can Expect — and How the Work Changes For many dispatchers, the first citywide power outage they work does not feel dramatic at the start. It begins with something small. A call that does not route the way it usually does. A...

Anyone who has spent time on a console knows that broader changes in society tend to show up in the call stream long before they appear in reports or headlines. Dispatchers hear those shifts firsthand. Different languages. Different relationships to authority....

When someone dials a non-emergency line at their local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), they might soon hear something unexpected: an artificial intelligence (AI) system on the other end of the line. This technological shift is already happening in dispatch...

Trauma. If you are in EMS, you may associate trauma with traumatic injury, which is a physical injury that occurs suddenly and must be assessed by knowing the mechanism of the injury or what caused it. However, the word "trauma" refers to the emotional response from a...

Now featuring machines that might be smarter than Carl from night shift—maybe.  Meet Your New Robot Coworker Remember when 911 centers ran on coffee, duct tape, and pure adrenaline? Well, welcome to the future—where Artificial Intelligence has elbowed its way into...

In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey provides great examples of how to be effective.  As a PSAP Director, I grabbed one that I used all the time, the touch-it-once principle.  When I was opening mail or doing tasks, I tried to just touch...

First responders deal with tragedy on every shift. We are used to helping others. We are prepared to respond to the physical and emotional trauma of others with care and empathy. Yet, we are often lost when it comes to dealing with our own trauma. On June 29, 2025,...

Mental health affects our job satisfaction, how we treat the public, and our relationships with everyone—coworkers, friends, and family included. Working in an ECC changes you. All too often, we forget our obligations to take care of ourselves and of each other. This...