Within the Trenches

With all of the B.S. going on in the world right now I thought I would do a funny episode with the always epic Rob "Big Mac" McMullen. In this episode we share some personal stories along with a few funny 9-1-1 tapes. A big thanks goes out to the person who hooked me up with the tapes. They are awesome and shows what we deal with in dispatch. It's definitely light hearted and if you are looking fo...

Welcome to Within the Trenches, a podcast based on the experience of being a 9-1-1 dispatcher. Episode 112 features Jordon, a dispatcher and CTO out of Colorado and this episode is kind of a behind the scenes look at the voiceover work for the podcast. It's a funny one and towards the end we talk about marijuana, Colorado's legalization, edibles and how they pertain to 9-1-1. It was a funny episod...

Welcome to an all new episode of Within the Trenches, a podcast based on the experience of being a 9-1-1 dispatcher. In this episode I spoke with the first recipient of the Within the Trenches Continuing Education Scholarship. Her name is Leslie, a Telecommunicator, CTO and 2016 recipient of the Mary Antley Telecommunicator of the Year Award. She dispatches out of New Hanover County in North Carol...

Welcome to an all new episode of Within the Trenches, a podcast based on the experience of being a 9-1-1 dispatcher. In this episode I spoke with dispatchers from Indiana with the code names of Maverick and Phoenix. We recorded live from the Indiana Convention Center for the 2016 National NENA Conference & Expo. This episode is sponsored by NENA and INdigital - A leader in Next-Gen Core Services. ...

Within the Trenches is back with episode 109 and you don't want to miss this one. I got the chance to speak with three great individuals including Greg with Van Buren County 9-1-1 along with Jim and Dee Ann of the 9-1-1 Wellness Foundation. We had a great time recording this episode of the show but we also learned a lot. In this episode we shared several stories and Jim talked about his class at t...

Good evening and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This past week I was in Lansing, Michigan for the 2016 Michigan NENA conference. It could not have gone any better. I got the chance to catch up with old friends and met a lot of new ones. It was great to see all of you and it was especially nice to see the crew from Van Buren County 9-1-1, Greg, Mike and Jennifer. It had bee...

Within the Trenches is back! Episode 107 is sponsored by INdigital - A leader in Next-Gen Core Services. In this episode I sat down with my brother Fernando to tell some personal stories that include a possible UFO sighting and a 9-1-1 tape of those sightings. A shoutout goes to OpenMinds - UFO News and Investigations for the short story and the audio. Also the Sons and Daughters of Dispatch decal...

Welcome to episode 106 of Within the Trenches! This episode is sponsored by Indiana NENA and INdigital, a leader in Next-Gen Core Services. In this episode I sat down with the ladies of Vigo County 9-1-1 Indiana and it was epic! Joining me was dispatchers, Chelsey, Kelsie, Heather and Hanna along with their director Rob "Big Mac" McMullen. There are so many different topics on here that I can't ev...

Recording live from the 2016 Indiana NENA/APCO Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana it's episode 105 of Within the Trenches, sponsored by Indiana NENA and INdigital - A leader in Next-Gen Core Services. This episode is entitled "Open Mic". My guest list consists of show regular Rob, Nicole, Assistant Director of Montgomery County, Lindsey, dispatcher with Fulton County and the audience/attendees of...

Recording live from the 2016 Indiana NENA/APCO Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana it's episode 104 of Within the Trenches, sponsored by Indiana NENA and INdigital - A leader in Next-Gen Core Services. In this episode, show regular, Rob "Big Mac" McMullen joined me to talk about anything and everything we could think of. I can't even begin to mention what all we talked about but shout outs go to L...

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/Dau...

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? O...

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 Dispa...

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...

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 Ab...

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 d...

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 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 M...

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 Jo...

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 wi...

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 yo...

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 w...

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 Br...

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...

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...