Within the Trenches

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 supervisor with the Emergency Communications Department of Monroe County out of Rochester NY and Chairman with the National Joint TERT Initiative for APCO. This episode is packed with information on TERT, the Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce. Below you will find links on where to find them and how you can get involved. Make sure to listen and share this episode with everyone you know.

As always you can email the show at [email protected].

Episode topics -

• Intro to Sherry
• Intro to Jeremy
• TERT stories/dispatcher comradre
• Spread the word on TERT

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 of the 9-1-1 world, the true first first responders, the dispatchers. It was an excellent time and the first conference where I truly felt inspired to do more in the 9-1-1 community.

This episode is a must listen so check it out and share it. As always if you have any questions or would like to be on the show you can send an email to [email protected].

Success Communications Inc. - Web | Facebook | Twitter

9114911 Conference - Web

Episode topics -

• Kelly's vision
• Speakers
• Preparation for next year

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 a speaker at the conference. Her presentation dealt with dispatcher wellness and specifically sitting at your console. The information she shared was excellent and informative. There will be another post coming up from Samantha herself where she will go more indepth with her presentation and her experience at the conference so stay tuned for that. You don't want to miss it.

As always you can email the show with any questions or if you want to be a guest at [email protected].

Episode topics -

• Samantha's start in dispatch
• Memorable calls
• Wellness presentation

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 AudioVillains podcast is a show I do with my good friends Adam and Ed and it is all kinds of funny. But I have to warn you; we use adult language and humor so if you are not down with that then maybe you should skip this episode. If you are all about it then stay tuned for awesomeness.

As always you can email the show at [email protected].

Episode topics –

• Ed and Adam bios from AudioVillains
• 911 tape reactions
• And more hijinks

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 guest at [email protected].

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 Macomb County in Michigan and a Friends of 911 Scholarship winner. The episode could not have gone any better and it was awesome speaking with Stacy.

This is a must listen so make sure to check it out and share! As always you can email the show at [email protected].

Episode topics –

• Stacy’s dispatch story
• Taking non-emergency calls on emergency lines
• Friends of 9-1-1 Scholarship process
• Side projects for continuing education
• Stacy’s outlook on her future in the 9-1-1 community

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 them as they walked past us. I had planned on taking it out but the noise wasn’t too bad. Our reactions to what was going on is funny as it is so I had to keep it in.

This is a must listen so make sure to check it out and share! As always you can email the show at [email protected].

Episode topics –

• Richard’s dispatch story
• Tunnel vision after a long shift in dispatch
• Citizens academy and questions from the public
• Back story and reaction on receiving the 9-1-1 Hero Award

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 [email protected].

Episode topics –

• Rob’s wrestling persona part 2
• Attendee feedback
• Text to 911
• 3 911 tapes

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 the chance to meet with Kathleen, Director of Marketing with Xybix to talk about their product as well as try it out for myself on the showroom floor during the 2014 NENA National conference. In this episode we learn about the company as well as some facts and frequently asked questions about the treadmill and bike. The company also publishes blogs with health topics and techniques for the dispatch center.

This is a must listen and share! For more information on Xybix please follow the links below and as always, if you have any questions please email us at [email protected].

Xybix – Web | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | YouTube

Episode topics –

• Xybix history
• Customer feedback
• Treadmill facts
• Xybix blogs
• Frequently Asked Questions

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 talked all things 9-1-1 including NENA, ENP certification, Kari’s Law and more.

This is a must listen so check it out and share. As always you can email the show at [email protected] and if you would like to learn more about Mark and Kari’s Law follow the links below.

Kari’s Law – Web (sign the petition at Change.org) | Facebook

Mark Fletcher/APN – Web | APN -E911 Podcast | Facebook | Twitter

Episode topics -

• Mark's start in the 9-1-1 community
• Mark's motivation to work hard to improve 9-1-1
• Kari's Law
• ENP certification