Within the Trenches

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 streamlin...

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 pr...

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...

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 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...

Ahoy hoy! I’m back with episode 83 of Within the Trenches. This episode is part of a series of episodes I recorded at the 2015 Indiana NENA/APCO conference and expo. I had an excellent time there and this episode added to the fun. In this episode I finally and I mean finally got the chance to sit down with Ty Wooten, NENA Education Director who I have been trying to get on the show for almost a ye...

Good afternoon and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. Episode 82 is part of a series of episodes that were recorded last week during the 2015 NENA/APCO conference & expo. In this episode I got to speak with Amanda and Yvonne, dispatchers with Lafayette PD and part of this years Teamwork Award recipients. Both dispatchers shared their 911 story as well as their reaction to the...

Good afternoon and welcome back! I have been M.I.A. and I apologize for that. Life and work takes over at times and I have to step back from the podcast but I’m here and I have brand new episodes coming your way. Last week I was at the Indiana NENA / APCO Conference & Expo. I was there for the show and I had the chance to speak on stage and tell my 911 story. It was an excellent time! I got to spe...

On February 16, 1968, the first 9-1-1 call was made. This is a very important date so today I present to you episode 80 of the podcast. I'm posting it ahead of episode 79 because I can't wait to share this story with all of you. Every event comes with stories and today’s date marks an event that started a lifetime of stories from those behind the mic. I have to say that it's crazy to think that th...

Good morning and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This is going to be episode 79 and I'm going a little out of order but after recording episode 80, a milestone for the show, I had to post it up right away. Steve of Fairfax County 911 out of Virginia had an excellent story and if you haven't listened to it yet, you need to. Today's episode was going to be with Misti, a dispa...

Good morning and welcome to episode 78 of Within the Trenches. It has been a while since episode 77 but I am back with a long list of guests. In my last episode I revisited some of my personal dispatch stories. If you haven't listened to it you need to check it out. I will be recording more of my personal stories soon. I also mentioned that the new Indiana NENA website was up and registration is o...

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Within the Trenches podcast. It has been about a month since the last episode and to keep it short, I have been all kinds of busy. Most of my time has been spent on work projects but I have also done a few side projects including logo design and web design. It has been fun because I love what I do but now that the main holidays are over I can get ba...

Welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. It has been a busy month! Since the last episode I have been training dispatchers on text FOR 911 platform  textty . It has been a lot of fun though and I love what I do. On top of that I can officially say that the  911 Wellness Foundation  and Within the Trenches are now strategic partners. What that means is that we are working together to...

Good morning and welcome to another episode of Within the Trenches. Today's episode is a must listen. In this episode we answer the question, "Who does 9-1-1 call when they need help?" To answer that question I spoke with Sherry, 9-1-1 Operations Supervisor, with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and Chairman with the National Joint TERT Initiative for NENA along with Jeremy, a superv...

Good afternoon and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. This is going to be the second and final episode recorded during the 9114911 conference held at the Naperville, Illinois Marriott. In this episode I got the chance to speak to Kelly, CEO of Success Communications Inc. She shared her vision of this one of a kind motivational conference geared towards the most important part...

Good morning and welcome back to another episode of Within the Trenches. It has been a couple of weeks since the last episode but I'm back so get ready! In this episode I sat down with Samantha, a dispatch supervisor with Fenton PD out of Michigan. The episode was recorded live from the  9114911 conference  hosted by  Success Communications Inc.  Samantha was not only an attendee but she was also...

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...

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 o...

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 thi...

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...

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. T...

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...

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 d...

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 sti...

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...