Hello everyone and welcome back to another awesome episode of Within the Trenches. I know it has been a while but I have had a lot going on. The past month or so I have been traveling non-stop for work and I recently moved to Fort Wayne Indiana. My schedule has been slammed but I have a lot coming up for the show. New episodes, announcements and fan page fun so get ready! This episode was recorded about 3 weeks ago and is a mash up of the AudioVillains Podcast and Within the Trenches. The AudioV...
Sep 07, 2014•33 min
Welcome back to a brand new episode of Within the Trenches! It has been about a month since episode 70. I have been busy like you wouldn't believe but in no way am I letting this show go. I'm working harder than ever to bring you awesome content including more dispatch stories/highlights and continuing education. I could say everything here but it is all explained in this new episode so check it out and share and comment! As always you can email the show with questions and if you want to be a gu...
Jul 23, 2014•28 min
Welcome back to another excellent episode of Within the Trenches. The show has reached episode 70 and I have to admit that when I first created this show I didn’t think I would reach a number this high. I have enjoyed every moment of this and I will continue to do the show until the 9-1-1 stories run out. This is also going to be the last episode in the 2014 National NENA Conference series. In this episode I spoke with Stacy, a dispatcher with SERESA, a central dispatch for three cities within M...
Jun 23, 2014•21 min
Good afternoon and welcome to episode 69 of Within the Trenches. In this episode I had the pleasure of meeting with Richard, a telecommunicator with Mt. Juliet Police and Fire out of Tennessee and one of two nationally selected telecommunicators to receive the 9-1-1 Hero Award through PSTC/911 Cares. This was an excellent episode to record and we even hit an interesting moment around 27 minutes 16 seconds in where maintenance in the Music City Center were packing up displays and you can hear the...
Jun 22, 2014•34 min
Good morning and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. In this episode my special guest host and wife Rebecca joined me, along with Rob, Director of Vigo County 911 in Indiana and National NENA North Central Region Director. This episode covers attendee feedback of the conference, text to 911 and three very funny 911 tapes. We even pay a second visit to Rob’s wrestling persona. This is a must listen to make sure to check it out and share. As always you can email the show at wtt...
Jun 22, 2014•39 min
Health in the dispatch center is a huge issue. Along with the massive amount of stress that the job offers there are also bad eating habits and minimal exercise opportunities while working. But what if there was something you could do about the exercise aspect of it? What if you had a treadmill or exercise bike attached to your console? Xybix, a dispatch furniture company has taken on the task of assisting in dispatchers’ health with the attachment of a treadmill or bike. This past week I had th...
Jun 21, 2014•19 min
This is episode 66 of Within the Trenches and this is a special episode. Since the beginning of my show I have had people helping me out and giving me advice. One of those people is Mark Fletcher with Avaya. I’ve been on his podcast a few times and this time it was my turn to have him as a guest. Mark is the Chief Architect for Worldwide Public Safety Solutions at Avaya as well as the program director of the longest running Public Safety podcast on the Avaya Podcast Network. We sat down and talk...
Jun 20, 2014•41 min
Welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This is episode 65 and I have to say right off the bat that there was an issue with this one. As you heard in episode 64 we had to redo the entire thing due to a subject who showed up and was drowning out the microphones. Some knobs were turned down and one of them was never turned back up so some audio is missing. I do apologize but it’s still an awesome one so check it out and share. In this episode I spoke with Rob, Director of Vigo Coun...
Jun 20, 2014•28 min
Good afternoon! This episode is sponsored by NENA and INdigital. I am currently in Nashville, TN for the 2014 National NENA Conference and this is just one of a series of episodes I’m recording here. In this episode I spoke with Dana, a dispatcher with Sumpter County Sheriff’s Office out of Florida and a Friends of 911 Scholarship winner. This is a must listen for anyone looking for information on not only the conference but how to apply for next years Friends of 9-1-1 scholarship. We also spoke...
Jun 18, 2014•34 min
Good morning! This episode is sponsored by NENA and INdigital. I am currently in Nashville, TN for the 2014 National NENA Conference and this is the first of a series of episodes I’m recording here. In this episode I spoke with Brandy, a dispatcher with Licking County 911 Center out of Ohio and a Friends of 911 Scholarship winner. This is a must listen for anyone looking for information on not only the conference but how to apply for next years Friends of 9-1-1 scholarship. As always, if you hav...
Jun 18, 2014•22 min
Good afternoon and happy Friday! This episode will be the final episode from the Indiana NENA conference. It was an excellent time and I can’t wait for next year! In this episode I spoke with Jeanene and Kelsie, dispatchers with Vigo County Central Dispatch. This episode is as real as it gets. It’s a look at true stories as well as the humor that goes with the job. It’s not just about being great at what dispatchers do; it’s about the humor needed to make it through this very stressful job. I co...
May 23, 2014•32 min
Good afternoon and welcome back to another awesome episode of Within the Trenches. It has been a pretty busy week with the announcement of Indiana's statewide text-to-9-1-1 plan but I now have time so I'm posting a brand new episode from Indiana's NENA conference. In this episode I spoke with Jessica, a dispatcher / CTO with Kosciusko 9-1-1 Communications. Jessica was honored during the opening ceremony with a few others where she received the Teamwork Award. Jessica shares how she got started i...
May 17, 2014•28 min
Good afternoon and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This episode brings us closer to the end of my time at Indiana’s NENA conference. My time there was inspiring, educational and I can’t wait for next year. The stories covered have been amazing and today’s episode is right up there with the best of them. In this episode I had the chance to speak to Kimberly, a dispatcher/CTO with Jennings County 9-1-1, John, director with Jefferson County 9-1-1 and Nicole, Assistant Direct...
May 08, 2014•40 min
Within the Trenches is back with episode 59! This is just one of several episodes recorded last week during the Indiana NENA state conference. In this episode I sat down to talk with Julie, Deputy Director with Bartholomew 9-1-1 Center and Claudia who is a dispatcher with Fayette County Communications. We share stories of messing up on the mic, burnout and how to deal with hitting a rough patch and renewing your love for dispatch. This is a must listen so check it out and share! As always you ca...
May 03, 2014•53 min
Within the Trenches is back with episode 58! This is just one of several episodes recorded last week during the Indiana NENA state conference. In this episode I sat down to talk with Amy, Amanda and Wendy, supervisors with Bartholomew County 9-1-1 Center. We look back at their start in 9-1-1, the classes they attended at the conference and we listened to a 9-1-1 tape that featured Wendy helping with the delivery of a baby girl. This is an episode you do not want to miss! Listen, share and as alw...
Apr 27, 2014•49 min
Within the Trenches is back with episode 57! This is just one of several episodes recorded last week during the Indiana NENA state conference. In this episode I sat down to talk with Heather and Kelly, dispatchers out of LaGrange County in Indiana and they received one of this years Team Work Awards. We look at how they got started in 9-1-1 and how they played a major part in a situation where a woman was taken hostage in Michigan and ended up in Indiana. The suspect was a prisoner who had escap...
Apr 27, 2014•42 min
Within the Trenches is back with episode 55! This is just one of several episodes recorded last week during the Indiana NENA state conference. In this episode I sat down to talk with Rob, Director of Vigo County Central Dispatch and North Central Regional Director of National NENA and Terri, Director of Fayette County Communications, NENA Central Region Vice President and Director of Indiana APCO. We took a trip down memory lane while laughing until our stomachs hurt and our eyes watered and stu...
Apr 27, 2014•44 min
Hello everyone! Within the Trenches is back with episode 53 featuring Ed, the Director of Bartholomew County 9-1-1 Center and President of Indiana NENA. The show is recording on location from the Marriott East in Indianapolis, Indiana for the annual Indiana NENA conference. In this episode Ed shares his dispatch experience, switching from dispatch to being an on the road state trooper and eventually becoming the director at Bartholomew. This is just one of several episodes coming up this week fr...
Apr 21, 2014•32 min
Hello everyone! Within the Trenches is back with episode 52 featuring Jeff, the Director of Monroe County Central Dispatch and 1st Vice President for Indiana NENA. The show is recording on location from the Marriott East in Indianapolis, Indiana for the annual Indiana NENA conference. In this episode Jeff shares his dispatch experience, the importance of continuing education, what the general public knows or doesn’t know about 9-1-1 and some advice to new and seasoned dispatchers. This is just o...
Apr 21, 2014•35 min
Hello everyone! Within the Trenches is back with episode 51 featuring David, the Director of Kosciusko 9-1-1 in Indiana. The show is recording on location from the Marriott East in Indianapolis, Indiana for the annual Indiana NENA conference. In this episode David shares his dispatch experience and how he worked his way up to the position of director of his center. We also touch on text-to-9-1-1 and his experience thus far. This is just one of several episodes coming up this week from the Indian...
Apr 21, 2014•20 min
Within the Trenches is back with episode 50! The show has come a long way since the Kickstarter campaign. Whitney and I have spoken to dispatchers, leaders and educators within the dispatch community. The show has also been present for different conferences and the first one was last year at the Mini-C conference in Boca Raton Florida. Tom with the Cool Kids of 9-1-1 invited the show to be there on one of the days to do interviews. The hospitality was excellent, the people were awesome and inspi...
Apr 01, 2014•37 min
Woo! Within the Trenches Podcast is back with episode 49 and I would like to welcome back Whitney! She has been gone for some time and rather than spoil the surprise I will let you go ahead and listen to her reveal it. In this episode we share some personal stories along with what happened on my trip to Marquette Michigan for work. It was an awesome experience and I can't wait to go back. Towards the end we touch on Kari's Law and future episodes. As always you can email the show at wttpodcast@g...
Mar 07, 2014•41 min
Welcome to a brand new episode of Within the Trenches. It has been a very busy week but I'm back! In this episode I sat down with Missy and Greg of Three Rivers Ambulance Authority (TRAA.) I met them during a training session a few weeks ago and I was impressed with them as well as the rest of the dispatchers and agency as a whole. We shared stories about their career, what High Performance EMS stands for and what it takes to run the agency. As always you can email the show at wttpodcast@gmail.c...
Feb 08, 2014•1 hr
Good afternoon and this is episode 47 of Within the Trenches. It has been a couple of weeks since the last episode and I couldn’t wait any longer so I decided to record an episode. I wanted to keep it light so I pulled some 9-1-1 calls from YouTube. I pulled a couple from a channel that belongs to AmericanPride1234 and they are awesome! If you get the chance make sure to check out the channel and subscribe. I have been pretty busy with work lately and one of the weeks I was on the road I got ver...
Jan 30, 2014•35 min
Today’s episode of Within the Trenches touches on the topic of stress and physical and mental issues in 9-1-1. As 9-1-1 dispatchers, we have heard it all. We have taken every call from the most ridiculous to the most horrific. If you’re like me, the calls that involve children are the ones that affect you most. I once took a call from a nine-year-old girl who had come home from school and found her mom passed out in the living room. She told me that her mom was not moving and her face was blue. ...
Jan 10, 2014•47 min
Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to another awesome episode of Within the Trenches. In this episode I hosted our first Google+ Hangout. This was a live broadcast and although we had some minor technical difficulties I feel that it worked out rather well. This episode featured Gary Allen, editor of Dispatch Monthly ( 911dispatch.com ), Ryan, a 9-1-1 dispatcher out of Pennsylvania and our podcast promotion featured 911Trainer.com. We suffered a minor audio issue with Ryan in the beginning ...
Dec 20, 2013•1 hr 31 min
Good evening folks and welcome back to another installment of Within the Trenches. One thing I have always wanted to do with this show is focus on dispatch stories, which I have done but I also want to start focusing on topic driven episodes. So far on the show we have taken on PTSD in dispatch, dispatch training standards and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Continuing with the focus on topic driven episodes, I got the chance to chat with Matt, Senior Director of Product Management f...
Nov 14, 2013•41 min
Good morning and welcome back! Whitney and I finally got the chance to record episode 43 and this is a must listen and watch! In this episode we sat down with our good friend Matt to talk about ridiculous calls and non-emergency calls on emergency lines. Matt is a local police officer and since we have worked with him before we felt he would be best suited for this episode. We also visit inappropriate 9-1-1 "on hold" songs and share other funny stories. Get ready to be schooled and make sure to ...
Nov 07, 2013•39 min
Good afternoon and welcome to another episode of Within the Trenches. In this episode we visit some calls from our past and I explain a few key stories from episode 40. We start off cracking up and it pretty much sets the tone for the entire episode. We also play a 9-1-1 tape that was featured in the season finale of A&E's Panic 9-1-1. This was also an episode that I was flown out for. I recorded a segment with them where I would be the stand in for the dispatcher in the tape but after a few...
Oct 18, 2013•36 min
Good morning and welcome back to another excellent episode of the Within the Trenches podcast. This weeks podcast promotion features Diary of a Mad Dispatcher on Facebook! I will provide the link below and make sure to head over and ‘Like’ them. They are 66,000+ strong and adding more fans every day. The page is tailored to 9-1-1 dispatchers but anyone would be able to get the humor from this page. With that said, this weeks episode features Jessica, a dispatcher with the Maricopa County Sheriff...
Oct 14, 2013•58 min
