Johnson County discontinues Treadmill dispatch desks due to foul body odor issues

Just after New Years the Johnson County 911 center added a new option for dispatchers. Desks that had treadmills attached. This allows dispatchers to stand and walk at a slow place while on shift to promote better health. Problem is in the hot communications center all that walking is causing lots of perspiration and thus body odor issues.

According to a report by Fox News 4 the treadmills were installed in response to the declining health of dispatchers. Dispatchers sitting for 8 to 10 hours were putting on weight and becoming at risk for heart disease. The report on Channel 4 even claims a dispatcher at Johnson County died on duty.

So for $1,500 a desk the sheriff installed a treadmill system into half of the dispatch workstations. At first the dispatch staff was in love with the new treadmills. But soon enough something foul popped up.

One dispatcher told us, “I walked into the communications center just before I was going to start shift and I swear I walked into a locker room. The stench was horrid.”

A second dispatcher had this to say, “Midway through my shift I noticed this little hit of something in the air. About a half hour later I realized what it was. I was me, I has sweating and I kept getting whiffs of my own funk. I know that my partner could also smell me by the looks she kept giving me.”

Many employees blame the county heath insurance provider. The insurance company started a rewards program and sold Fitbit activity trackers at a deep discount. Rewards included insurance premium discounts and deductible refunds. To get the rewards employees have to share data off the Fitbit with the insurance company via a smart phone app. The dispatchers saw their walking desks as a great way to rack up points to earn rewards.

After multiple complaints about the dispatch center smelling worse than the jail the Sheriff stopped in. He caught one whiff of the tainted air and ordered the treadmills removed.

No one from the department administration was willing to go on record with us. The dispatchers union is undecided if they will file a grievance.