Editor's note: this story contains a mention of suicide. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.
A 911 dispatch center can be a high-stress work environment. To combat this, Summit County’s Emergency Communications Center recently added a new employee who’s ready to jump into action when a dispatcher starts to feel the stress of the job.
His name is Archie.
He's an 18-month-old certified therapy and facility dog. The English Labrador works afternoons with shift supervisor Nikki Vaughan, who is also his handler.
On a recent afternoon, dispatcher Skylar Ramos excitedly called out to him when she arrived for work.
“You can greet,” Vaughan instructed him. “Go see her!”
Archie took off across the room for his first assignment of the day. He stretched out on the floor as Ramos and dispatcher Julia Csernyik gave him belly rubs and pets.
Archie’s presence makes the job better, Ramos said.
“[He] makes it easier to show up,” Csernyik joked.
Archie has been with the Summit Emergency Communications Center for just over two weeks.
David O’Neal, the facility’s director, has wanted to get a therapy dog since dispatch staff moved into this facility in Tallmadge in 2023, he said.
Therapy animals are a growing trend in public safety, he said, because they can help first responders and dispatchers after they’ve been exposed to something tough.
“Just in the past week we've had a couple suicides, a murder-suicide - those things that touch this room, like right away,” O’Neal said. “Having an animal in the room that can reduce that stress, reduce that anxiety, reduce the heart rate, drop the blood pressure, and just calm the chaos – that’s been a great thing to have.”
Archie has already made a big impact on employee morale, Vaughan said.
“[Employees come in, they're having a bad day, and immediately they see Archie and they just get excited,” Vaughan said. “Then, throughout the day as we have hard calls, he'll kind of walk around, and if I see somebody struggling, I'll walk over, make sure they're okay. And we'll take Archie, and he'll kind of hang out with them for a little while.”
The dispatch center received Archie with the help of a grant from Bluecoats of Summit County, a local nonprofit supporting safety forces.
Archie came from The Hero Academy, a nonprofit that trains therapy dogs for first responders, military members and their families. The organization donated Archie to the dispatch center, O’Neal said.
Archie is trained to know when he’s needed – and when to stay back, Vaughan said. His naturally calm demeanor makes him a good fit for the dispatch center, she added.
“He picks up when somebody is stressed or overwhelmed, and as he roams around, he'll kind of stop and see them and if they need extra time,” Vaughan said.
When he was a few months old, Archie initially trained as a retriever dog to eventually help individuals with mobility challenges. Even though he’s now a certified facility dog, his retriever tendencies are ever-present, as he loves to make deliveries around the room, she said.
He follows Vaughan around as she hands out a sign-in sheet to dispatchers. Archie, meanwhile, carries a slobbery piece of blank paper in his mouth.
Later, he brings his favorite toy – a stuffed groundhog – over to dispatcher Danielle Boyes.
Having Archie around helps Boyes de-stress during the workday, she said.
“I just think that's really nice here, just to even take that 10-second break, just to play with him and get out of your head and whatever is going on here,” she said.
They play tug-of-war for a few seconds, and Boyes throws the toy across the room for Archie to fetch.
“He’s a great asset here. He's feels part of the family here for sure,” Boyes added.
Archie’s playful demeanor and comic relief aren’t the only skills he brings to the job. He is learning therapeutic techniques that can help with stress and nervous system regulation, Vaughan said.
For example, he recently laid his head across dispatcher Ramos’ lap when she took a difficult 911 call.
“One of the other call takers took over the call, and [Archie] was just there like nudging my hand,” Ramos said. “I walked out of the room and he just like applied … deep pressure therapy, and just helped regulate me and not go into a panic attack, to be able to just come back in and handle the rest of my shift.”
Archie’s special talents aren’t limited to the dispatch center, Vaughan added.
His first assignment when he arrived in Summit County last month was to visit Green's fire department, after they responded to the tragic death of a teenager at a Memorial Day parade.
“They had a tough week, and everybody was excited to see him,” Vaughan said. “It's nice to be able to share, not only here, but out in the community as well, for people that need him.”
When he isn’t wandering the room visiting dispatchers and calming them if need be, Archie stays in the corner of the room hanging out in his bed. He hasn’t been a distraction, Vaughan said, although he barked a few times when he was first getting used to the facility.
“He’s a welcome distraction, I would say that,” Ramos added. “Sometimes, you do need it. You do. You need the reminder, 'hey, you need to stand. Hey, you need to get up. It's okay to just take a breath.’ And I think he's great at reminding you.”
For now, Archie works second shift, but facility director O’Neal hopes to get another therapy dog in the coming years so more dispatchers have a comforting presence to turn to when they start to feel the stress.
