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 even begin to talk about it. You have to listen to it to understand.

This is a must listen so make sure to check it out and share it up! As always if you have any questions or you want to be a guest on the show you can email the show at wttpodcast@gmail.com. 

Episode topics -

• Robbing custard
• "Your Mom"
• "Are you a psychic?"
• And more!

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 the conference. This was the first time I have ever done a podcast with a live audience and it turned out amazing! We tell all kinds of funny stories and some of them may make you blush. There is a warning in the beginning so listen and remember, you have been warned. 

This is a must listen so make sure to check it out and share! As always if you have any questions or if you want to be a guest on the show send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.

Episode topics -

• Bottle cap story
• "Annie are you ok, are you ok Annie?"
• "I am the drunk driver"
• "Something is stuck"
• And many more!

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 Leah of Grand Traverse, Smart911, the graphic design talents of Rizzo and the 911 Wellness Foundation. 

This is a must listen so check it out, share and share again. 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 is a celebrity
• Rob loves the media
• New Hampshire or bust
• And more...

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 2^nd2016). 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 Trenches t-shirt

To register, make sure to go to thejabberlog.com/scholarship/scholarship.php

Today’s guest is Daphanie, Communications Training Coordinator and Shift Supervisor, out of Martin County Fire/Rescue in Florida. In this episode Daphanie shared her 911 dispatch story as well as some calls that have impacted her life. This is a must listen so please check this out, share and share again. Below you will find links to Daphanie’s articles with IAED, links to IAED and Threadsy Tee.

As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.

Contact Daphanie - firequeenmcfrATyahooDOTcom

Daphanie's Articles - Article 1 | Article 2

IAED - www.emergencydispatch.org | www.iaedjournal.org

Threadsy Tee - Web | Facebook | Twitter

Episode topics –

• Daphanie’s 911 Story
• 911 calls that made an impact
• Dispatch policies
• And more

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 2^nd 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 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 Trenches t-shirt

To register, make sure to go to thejabberlog.com/scholarship/scholarship.php

Today’s guest is known throughout social media and the blogosphere as Dispatch Monkey but today we find out who the man is behind the monkey…or curtain. This person is a police dispatcher working for an agency in western Canada and his given name is Lloyd. This is a must listen so make sure to check it out, share, check out Dispatch Monkey's links below and share!

As always if you have any questions or you want to be a guest on the show send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.

Visit Dispatch Monkey – Web | Facebook | Twitter

Episode topics -

• Lloyd's dispatch story
• 911 calls
• The beginning of Dispatch Monkey
• And more

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.

• 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

• Eddie's 911 dispatch story
• Stress Management
• Eddie's stress level during the Ferguson riots
• Adele inspired apology from Mlive

Visit Dispatch Monkey – Web | Facebook | Twitter

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 15^th 2016 to apply for the Within the Trenches Continuing Education Scholarship. This is a great opportunity for you to attend a national conference so don’t miss out. Thank you to everyone who believed in me and this project. I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. I see this show doing so many things in the future so stay tuned. Here’s to 100 more episodes and beyond. Cheers!

Episode topics –

• The beginning of Within the Trenches
• Episode 1 - Web
• Episode 6 - Web
• Episode 12 - Web
• I’m Abscessed with You – Web
• Visit Dispatch Monkey – Web | Facebook | Twitter

Behind the Mic: Stories from the Trenches

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 911trainer.com. She is a former dispatcher, supervisor, console trainer and vocational teacher. This episode was a lot of fun and after about 3 years of trying to schedule an episode we finally got a chance to chat. If you are passionate about training or are thinking about making a move into a training position then this is the episode for you.

As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com. Also don’t forget to use the hashtag #ShitDispatchersSay & ShitDispatchersThink on Facebook and Twitter. You can mention us on Twitter with your Say or Think hashtag and we will retweet it or you can send one to our inbox on Facebook and we will post it anonymously. Check out Sue’s links below and tell her we sent you. Cheers!

Sue Pivetta – Linkedin | Twitter | YouTube

911trainer.com – Facebook | Web

Episode topics –

• Episode 98 recap
• How Sue got into dispatch
• First night in dispatch calls
  • Murder & Rape
• Shotgun to jaw call
• Training dispatch today
• And more

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 topic on the skewed public perception of dispatch along with how much we do and how it can affect us. We also share a couple of videos on dispatcher tasks from Facebook Page “Inside the Fire: A Page For First Responders” and “The Operator” by Bridge the Divide Media. Joining me for this episode are a few of my admins from the podcast fan page, Shae, Victoria and Kelli.

This is a must listen so check it out and share! As always if you have any questions or you would like to be a guest on the show send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com. Below you will find links to the videos mentioned in this podcast.

Episode topics –

• Skewed public perception of dispatch
• Dispatch bashing
• Dispatch Stories
• Inside the Fire: A Page for First Responders – “Dispatcher Tasks”
• Bridge the Divide Media – “The Operator”