Within The Trenches

Welcome to Within the Trenches and this is episode 103. This episode is sponsored by INdigital - A leader in Next Gen Core Services.  Last week for episode 102 I spoke with Lloyd out of Canada and he shared his 911 story and touched on mental health and dispatch wellness as well as how he started Dispatch Monkey. If you missed that episode please make sure to go and listen and share.  The Sons/Daughters of Dispatch decals are currently up for a second round and available for only 2 weeks (end date April 2nd2016). They are 5X5 decals at $9.99 + shipping. A portion of the money made goes to fund a scholarship for the 2016 National NENA conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. There are also t-shirts of the logo made by Threadsy Tee that will be going up for sale as well so keep an eye out for them. As for the scholarship it includes, Complementary registration to the conference & expo Complementary registration for a one-day pre-conference course of your choice A $500 travel stipend Official Within the Trenche

Welcome to episode 102 of the Within the Trenches Podcast, a podcast based on the experience of being a 911 dispatcher. The show is going strong and while stories are the main focus of the podcast, 911 companies and organizations are coming on the show to talk about what they are doing. The way I look at it is that if I can supply dispatchers with some free training through the podcast, why not? On episode 101 I spoke with Eddie of St. Louis County, Missouri and he shared his 911 story as well as what it was like for him in the dispatch center during the Ferguson riots. If you missed that episode, please make sure to go and listen and share.  The Sons/Daughters of Dispatch decals are currently up for a second round and available for only 2 weeks (end date April 2nd 2016). They are 5X5 decal’s at $9.99 + shipping. A portion of the money made goes to fund a scholarship for the 2016 National NENA conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. There are also t-shirts of the logo made by Threadsy Tee that will be going up f

Welcome to episode 101 of the Within the Trenches Podcast. Last week I posted the 100th episode of the podcast and in that episode I took a trip back in time to how everything started out and what’s to come. I played clips from episodes 1, 6 and 12 and I hope you enjoyed them because they were so much fun to record. Since that episode I have received many emails for the Sons and Daughters of Dispatch vinyl decals. Because so many people wanted a second round I opened up the vault and they are available once again. They will only be available for 2 weeks so get them while you can. They are 5X5 decals at $9.99 + shipping and can be found here. A portion of the money made goes to fund a scholarship for the 2016 National NENA conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.   Scholarship includes: Complementary registration to the conference & expo Complementary registration for a one-day pre-conference course of your choice A $500 travel stipend Official Within the Trenches t-shirt To apply for the scholarship make su

Episode 100! Man oh man I can’t believe it. It’s been one crazy ride and I wouldn’t change a thing. Welcome to Within the Trenches, a podcast based on the experience of being a 911 dispatcher. I have interviewed dispatchers from all over the United States including Ireland, Canada and Australia. I have also interviewed 911 leaders, directors and 911 pro companies and organizations such as the 911 Wellness Foundation, Dispatch Magazine Online, NENA, APCO, TERT, EENA, INdigital, Success Communications, Agency360, 911Trainer.com, Avaya, The Denise Amber Lee Foundation, Xybix, Smart911, The Cool Kids of 911 and more! I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to interview and meet so many amazing people. It started as a school project and blew up from there. In this episode I go back and reflect on the beginning of my journey. I play clips from episodes 1, 6 and 12 and share all kinds of stories. I hope you enjoy them and I will post links to those episodes below. Don’t forget that you have until April 15th

Welcome to episode 99 of Within the Trenches. I have come a long way and it is hard to believe that my next episode is going to be number 100. I am planning something great for this landmark episode so stay tuned! In this episode I did a recap of episode 98 that included some of my admins. I also gave an overview of a couple of videos we watched and I made sure to give a shout out to Heather of Absolute Photography out of Holland, MI. She made a vinyl decal out of my Sons of Dispatch – NINE ONE ONE Original logo and it looks amazing! I asked the fans if they would be interested in one and there was a large response so I will be making them available in the next few days for purchase. The decals will be for both the Sons and Daughters logo and will cost $9.99 a piece. Now I know it may seem like a lot but a portion of the proceeds will go to a scholarship that I am working on to send one dispatcher to the 2016 National NENA conference in Indy. Today’s guest features Sue Pivetta of Professional Pride and 911tra

Welcome to episode 98 of Within the Trenches. A lot has been going on lately and I can’t make any announcements yet but as soon as I get the green light I will do so. Now along with that there are some big things coming up and I know the National NENA conference is a few months away but I can’t help but mention that the podcast will be better than ever. I’m working on a scholarship for one lucky dispatcher. The scholarship will include a full registration, travel stipend and a couple others things but complete details and open registration will not come out until early next month. If you have never been to a conference, this is your chance.  A couple t-shirt campaigns are coming up as well and a portion of the proceeds will go to that scholarship so when it hits make sure to order your shirt, it’s going to an excellent cause. And in case you’re wondering the shirt campaigns will include the Sons and Daughters of Dispatch design that I posted on Facebook and Twitter. Today’s episode is going to cover a hot top

Welcome to episode 97 of Within the Trenches. A few days ago I received numerous tweets and Facebook messages asking if there was going to be a Halloween themed show. I thought about it and thought about it and finally decided I would do one. I was trying to figure out what I was going to do and a good friend of mine told me about some creepy and scary 9-1-1 calls she heard from a YouTube channel. I checked them out and they are pretty crazy. They reminded me of when I was in dispatch and the crazy stuff I would hear so I decided to use the tapes. I will give full credit to those who put the calls together below so make sure to check them out for other videos. I want to make sure that everyone knows that I am not making light of the emergency situations. The calls are meant to educate and show the reality of 9-1-1 dispatch. Others may have a dark sense of humor and if you do well, that usually means you have worked or know someone who has come from the chair. At the end of the episode you will get to hear abo

I am a firm believer that every person we meet, we meet for a reason. Whether it is good or bad, a blessing or a lesson, there is a reason. A few years ago I reached out to someone who would help shape the rest of my career. Although the good deed was small it changed everything and made a big impact on my life. When I was in the last part of my dispatch career I was working on my Masters in New Media Journalism. At this time I was writing heavily and posting all kinds of personal dispatch stories to my blog. It had become pretty popular with those in the 9-1-1 community as well as the general public. People were learning and I was loving it but I felt like something was missing, I felt like I could do more. As I was riding on the popularity of my written version of Within the Trenches I was introduced to podcasting through an assignment in school. I fell in love with it and started a public safety series doing stories with dispatch, police and EMS. From there I decided to turn my written segment into a podca

Welcome to another episode of Within the Trenches. It has been almost a month since I posted the last episode but I’m back and ready to go with a long list of guests. Today’s episode will feature 911 news stories along with some tapes and a written guest blog. I’m joined today by show regular Rob “Big Mac” McMullen, Director of Vigo County 911 and 2nd VP of NENA. He’s joined by episode 94 guest Jordon, dispatcher with Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority and new to the admin team of the Facebook Fan Page.  Get ready to laugh, learn and if you would like to read and comment on Kelli's guest blog post entitled, "I was there" please click the link below. Also, there are only a few days left on the "Dispatch Love" t-shirt campaign so get yours while you can. Once it's over that's it! This is a limited edition t-shirt that cannot be found in stores. Kelli's "I was there" guest blog "Dispatch Love" t-shirt campaign Episode topics - Recap with Jordon on episode 94 How would you dispatch that medical?

Hello and welcome to episode 94 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver and this will be the last episode of a series of episodes that were recorded there. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In this episode I got the chance to speak with Jordon and Tiffany, dispatchers with Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority out of Colorado. This was a great episode to record. We told many stories and we laughed like crazy. If you want to learn more about dispatching, the national conference and more then you need to check this one out. As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com. Episode topics - How Jordon & Tiffany got into dispatching What it was like for them Early calls State Police story And more

Hello and welcome to episode 93 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In this episode I got the chance to speak with Andrew, an instructor with Public Safety Training Consultants.  This is a very short and sweet episode that I hope you enjoy. I usually record a longer episode but Andrew was about to give a class at the conference. I am going to get a hold of him for a much longer episode in the future so stay tuned for that.  As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, you can send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.   Episode topics - How Andrew got into dispatching What it was like for him A brief overview of the class he was teaching

Hello and welcome to episode 92 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In This episode I got the chance to sit down with show regular Rob “Big Mac” McMullen the newly elected 2nd VP of NENA. This was a fun episode to record and in it we talk about a presentation we gave on text for 911. The presentation went great and Rob and I are thinking of hitting more conferences to present this.  This is a must listen! The intro alone is awesome so make sure to check it out and share! As always, if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.   Episode topics - Rob "Big Mac" Wrestling Intro 2nd VP duties Text for 911 presentation highlights

Hello and welcome to episode 91 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In This episode I got the chance to sit down with show regular Rob “Big Mac” McMullen the newly elected 2nd VP of NENA, Ty Wooten, Education Director of NENA and Brian Tegtmeyer, who is an Education Advisory Board Member for NENA. This is an awesome episode! We share everything from the beginning of the conference up until that point of the conference. It's educational and entertaining. As always, if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com   Episode topics - Funny intro Conference events Preparing for NENA 2016

Hello and welcome to episode 90 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In This episode I got the chance to sit down with Matt, Founder of Agency360 and sponsor of the show for the month of June. Matt shares his story from dispatch, to becoming a police officer and ultimately starting Agency360 to help the onboarding of new dispatchers and helping to streamline your CTO program. It’s an episode you don’t want to miss! So please listen and share! As always, if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com. Make sure to check out our sponsor Agency360 by clicking the image below.         Episode topics – Matt's dispatch story The history of Agency360 Early 911 calls What Agency360 can do for you And more 

Welcome back folks! This is episode 89 of Within the Trenches. In this episode I got to speak with guest regular Rob McMullen, director of Vigo County 911 out of Indiana and current North Central Region Director of NENA. We chat and listen to 9-1-1 calls including one on the late great American Dream Dusty Rhodes. We also share some information on our upcoming class at the National NENA Conference in Denver next week. It's called, "A Day In The Life of Text to 9-1-1." You don't want to miss it! If you are going to be there, make sure to look for us on Tuesday around 4 p.m. Also make sure to check out our sponsor Agency360! Their customizable web-based field training software supports the CTO program and the on boarding of new dispatchers across the country to improve consistency, access, and efficiency in documenting their training. For more click on their image below.         Episode topics - 9-1-1 tapes Dusty Rhodes "If they shoot you call us back with that information" News story of female faking a kid

Good afternoon and welcome back for episode 88 of Within the Trenches. In this episode I got the chance to speak with Theresa, a dispatcher and trainer with Greenville City PD in Greenville South Carolina. We go back and reflect on her dispatch career from the beginning up to present time as a trainer. We also dig deep into her training style and how her CTO program through Agency360 has streamlined the training process. If you have ever wanted to be a better trainer this is the episode for you! This is a must listen so check it out and share! As always if you have any questions or want to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com Make sure to check out our sponsor Agency360 by clicking the image below!         Episode topics – Theresa’s 911 story Early 911 calls Lessons learned in training CTO program through Agency360 And more

Hello everyone! This is going to be an epic episode 87 of Within the Trenches. It has been a little while since the last episode but I’m back and ready to go. Agency360, a new sponsor for the month of June, sponsors this episode. I will be sitting down with them in the coming week to record an episode with them and talk about the awesome things they are doing for dispatchers with their training program. For today’s episode I want to go back and talk about where this all started. You will get to hear about how I started out in dispatch, my calls, my transition from dispatch to becoming an industry partner and what I am doing with the podcast. You will also listen to clips from other episodes. One deals with an officer shooting and death. It is one that you need to listen to and hopefully you can learn something from it. This is a must listen so check it out and share. As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com. Make sure to check out our sp

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This will be the last episode in a series recorded at the 2015 Indiana NENA/APCO conference and expo a few weeks ago. I had a great time there and I hope everyone who was on the show or attended my class enjoyed it too. I met a lot of new people, visited with good friends and just had an all around good time. There is never a dull moment with the crew from Indiana. In this episode I got the chance to speak with Lindsey, dispatcher with Fulton County 911 and her mom Lori, training coordinator with INdigital and former PSAP director. This episode was a lot of fun to record. It was the first time that I have ever had a mother/daughter episode and they hit one out of the park. This is a must listen so check it out and share. As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, you can send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com. Episode topics – How Lindsey started in dispatch What it was like working for her mom Lori Wh

Hello folks and welcome back to another excellent episode of Within the Trenches. This is the podcast where you will learn, laugh and understand what 911 dispatch is all about. The point of the show is to give a true experience and look into the lives of those behind the mic. They are the true first responders and the most important people you will never see. In doing this podcast I have made it my goal to help share their stories as well as some of mine. In this episode I sat down with show regular Rob McMullen, North Central Region Director of NENA as well as director of Vigo County 911 in Indiana. Joining him on this episode are Victoria and Kelli, dispatchers with Vigo County 911 and this is a must listen and share. We tell stories from dispatch, personal life and a story I have never told before from my time in dispatch. It’s one you don’t want to miss. As always you can email the show for comments, questions or if you want to be a guest on the show at wttpodcast@gmail.com. Link to the story that Kelli m

Good morning! The wait is finally over! I must admit that it was hard for me to hold off posting this episode until today. I wanted to post it so that all of you could enjoy this but I had to separate the episodes to make it last. So without any further ado, welcome to episode 84 – Don’t be nervous. You will get the title once you hear the episode. This episode was recorded during the 2015 Indiana APCO/NENA Conference during the week of April 15 – 17. In this episode I had the chance to speak to three lovely ladies out of Hamilton County in Indiana. Anna, Alicia and Shae were so open and honest about their love for the job that it made the conversation naturally flow. On top of that they have a sense of humor like mine so I felt like I had known them for years. This epic episode is a must listen so check it out and share it up. As always if you have any comments, questions or if you would like to be a guest on the show, email us at wttpodcast@gmail.com. Episode topics – How each person got into dispatch What