Dispatch - The Untold Story

We talk about Dispatch, for National Public Safety Communications Week! We'll discuss other things too. There is an listener story to tell, a new edition of Squirrel Theatre, and all the other "normal" things.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to 911 Squirrel, a podcast for all the fine men and women who serve as first responders. Stories will be told training at everyday responder life is explored, all while having a great time doing it. So grab your coffee and watch those tails. This squirrel shift is about to begin. And now, the man with a face for dispatch, a body for science, and a mind for physical labor. Please welcome your host, Brad Mac.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

Hello, and welcome to episode three of 911 Squirrel, the podcast for first responders. The contact voice said, hey, I'm your host, Brad Mac, and this episode is called Dispatch. The Unknown Story. I'm just laughing at myself because of the intro. Uh uh a face for face for radio or whatever it was. Oh gosh, a body for science and a mind for physical labor. I'm sitting there going, oh yeah, up yours. The heck with you. What do you know? You know, I was using more colorful language, of course, but it was kind of funny. But I am Brad Mack. Welcome to 911 Squirrel. May the White Cloud bless you all with fun and rewarding shifts. Uh this week uh we're celebrating dispatch. Um actually, by the time this comes out, the week will be over, but it is National Public Safety Communications Week. Huge shout out to all our dispatchers out there, not just the dispatchers, but also the call takers. That's right. Some 911 centers have call takers or a title like that. I don't know, customer service representative. Welcome to 911. How may I help you? Um, in which they answer the 911 call. The call takers do. And they answer the 911 call, get the info, put it in the computer, send it over to the dispatch to the dispatcher, and the next thing you know, units are in around, lives are saved, blah, blah, blah. Okay. Um, so anyway, this is we're celebrating dispatchers, call takers, anybody that works in the 911 center. Um, and I worked in dispatch for a few years, and uh that's kind of where I started my quote-unquote professional career. I started as a volunteer firefighter and got my job at at Dispatch. And I didn't realize what it was like to answer calls all day long. You know, imagine having to answer the phone and you're listening to frantic mothers, rambling drunks, depressed 35-year-old basement dwellers, I don't know, um, alarm representatives, those are my favorite. They're most emotionalist. I mean, so bland when when they call, hey, we got a fire alarm, oh, we got a lady that fell. You know, I mean, just so boring. And they were so bland, monotone. They sounded like a substitute teacher who took too many Xanaxes, you know? Uh I got a fire alarm at 200 Elm Street. Lady fell in the living room. I mean, really. Sounds like that uh professor that was in mus uh Monsters University explaining can engineering. Um but at least sound human for crying out loud. I mean, even AI sounds better. Uh but I never did encounter one of those from an alarm company that sounded like the guy in the medic alert commercial. You ever seen that guy? Um, we're sending somebody right now. You know, never saw that. Never once heard that guy. And have you ever seen that guy? I mean, he's a monitor rep at a at an alarm company. Yeah, I don't think so. I mean, he looks like a Navy SEAL. Man, looks like he could do 200 push-ups, wire an anti-personnel mine, and then clear and clear a room during his 15-minute break. I'm I'm just saying. But anyway. But I've never done that either. Yes, ma'am, we're sending somebody right now. No, I did do that once. I take that back. I was I wanted to just amuse myself, and I did do that once. Um I don't recommend it, because you never know who's gonna be on the other line, but I did do that once. I didn't do it that over the top. It was more like, don't worry, ma'am, we're sending somebody right now, you know. Anyway, when I was in dispatch 20 something ago, uh it was quite different. In my county uh that I worked at, it's Sumner County in uh Tennessee, just north of Nashville. Excuse me, man, too much tea this morning. Um we didn't have a consolidated 911 center. We had um it was kind of all over the place. And our county has one, two, three, four, five basically cities in that county, what what is technically considered cities. And so we had all five of those cities had their own dispatch. And then I worked in EMS dispatch, which took care of EMS and the county fire departments, and then the county um the sheriff department had, you know, they were the main they were the first ones to get called. So if you called 911, it went to the sheriff's office. Uh then depending on what it was, they would either transfer it to us or transfer it to one of the cities to do whatever. Um if it was a medical call, they would get the call, they would transfer it to us, we would take care of ambulance, but if it was in a city, then we'd have to almost basically transfer it to the city, like if it was something major to get a fire department around. Now we didn't allow that to happen to where they would get transferred twice. We didn't we tried not to. Sometimes you had to, but uh most of the time what we did was we had a radio um frequency uh that was uh called inner city. So what we would do is if it got to us, we'd just go over, hit inner city and say, hey, EMS to Hendersonville, that was one of the towns. Hendersonville, hey, I got a medical call, blah, blah, blah, need need fire department around. And they'd come back, yeah, sure, you know. So that way we wouldn't have to transfer the collar more than once. Because even when you there was a few times the collar would get mad, they got transferred the first time. So we tried not to do that. Um so yeah, it was just all over the place. And that was before they became a consolidated 911 center where everybody's in one place and now they got to call takers and goes over to dispatchers, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Um, so yeah, it was and then we didn't work like our shifts were sixteen-hour shifts. Uh there was an everyday person um that worked like I think eight hours, but our shifts were sixteen hours. I would go in at three in the afternoon and work till seven the next morning and have a dinner hour dinner break, you know, around eight, nine o'clock, whatever. Uh I tried to make it like ten o'clock before the second person that was with me uh got off and so forth and so on. So I was all by myself from eleven o'clock till seven o'clock in the morning. And this was when our county wasn't the call volume wasn't as heavy, our population wasn't as large. Um, so you know, we could sit there, watch TV, play games, do a puzzle, knit, study quantum physics, you know, whatever everyday stuff type stuff you wanted to do. And you know, I did some silly things. Like I've said this before. I used to sing dispatch, you know, medic for need you and right, code one response to uh uh 400 Sanders Ferry Road for a chess pain. Yeah, jazz hands. Um but uh yeah, that was that was until uh let's just say the directive came from above. Not to do that. Uh I'd bring my guitar in. I, you know, you could work out. We used to be able to smoke in dispatch. That was the thing. I mean, it was just a you know, if it was only one person or whatever, and there was days where it was only one person in dispatch, and you were able to, if you wanted to, to go over to the window, open it up, and have a smoke. Because you couldn't leave. Um but that was how dispatch was then. Oh, the days of yore. But now it's completely different. So guess what, people? Uh we are celebrating the dispatcher today, since it was or is, however you want to look at it, communications week. I know I'm a week behind. We had Easter, blah blah blah. You know, it's just a week behind. It's no big deal. We're here. Alright. So if you are a dispatcher, one keep your earpieces clean because ear infections suck. They really do. Make sure you, you know, alcohol, anything, keep those earpieces clean. All that stuff. And thank you for your service. Um my this is my thought, and I'm gonna own it like there's no tomorrow. First responders should be considered or no dispatchers should be considered first responders. Good gravy bread. Uh yes. I I believe that wholeheartedly, and I think that should just that's it. They should just be first responders. You have to explain CPR, you have to explain all kinds of things. They should be first responders. So thank you to all dispatchers. You guys are the bomb. In fact, there's a lot of people, a lot of dispatchers who like this program and follow it. Follow us on Facebook and the whole nine yards. I'm just saying. So, yes, dispatchers should be considered first responders. Anyway, and now this week's top ten. Come on, music. Ah, there we go. This episode's top ten is things not to do or say in dispatch for National Public Safety Communications Week. Number 10, the number 10 thing not to do or say in dispatch is 911. What's your favorite color? For all you elf fans out there. Number nine, the number nine thing not to do or say in dispatch. This is pretty easy. Sleep. Can't sleep. Don't sleep, don't do it. Can't do it. All right, the number eight, which I've said this a couple times already in other episodes, and you cannot sing information. That's the number eight thing that you cannot do or say in dispatch. Do not sing information. Do not go, hey, that's 100 East Main Street for domestic disturbance. No, you can't do it. All right, number seven. This is something every dispatcher I swear would want to say. The number seven thing not to do or say in dispatch is you called 911 for that? Yep. And we all have those stories. Might get to some here in a minute. All right, the number six thing you cannot do or say in dispatch, this is old school. This goes back before the cell phone era. So, you found a quarter and called someone who cared. You'd like to say that, but you can't. Alright, the number five thing not to do or say, oh, if we could only answer the phone this way. You're our ninth caller. If you can answer this question, you get a free t-shirt. Oh, that would be awesome. Number four, the number four thing to not to the number four thing not to do or say in dispatch. And there's a story behind this. Sorry, we're closed. Only open from eight to five. I have done it. I a hospital called to do a transfer, and I knew it was the hospital. I knew who was working and calling. So I had to have fun with her. And she goes, Hey, I need to call in a transfer. I said, Sorry, we're closed. She goes, What? I said, Yeah, we're only open from eight to five. And she hung up the phone before I could say, No, it's a joke. Don't do that.

unknown 13:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

I didn't get in trouble for that, but she thought it was funny too. All right, the number three thing of things not to do or say in dispatch is I'm afraid our time has run out. Let's pick this up next week. How many times dispatchers can tell you they will tell you their life story? And it's unbelievable. All right, number two. Number two, I wish I could say this. Number two thing not to do or say in dispatch is is this for pickup or delivery? Believe it or not, that would work in a lot of ways. And the number one thing not to do or say in dispatch is doo doo doo. I'm sorry, the number you called is not in service. Please check the number and dial again. That would be so amusing to ourselves, but can't do it. And if any of you are thinking about trying any of these in dispatch, you're on your own. I'm telling you now. Do not do them. I have said it, it's on record, it's on this recording. I even got my phone recording this, so yes, do not do this. I don't want phone calls or emails saying, I can't believe you told them all this stuff. Nope, they're on their own. I told them not to do it. Do not do these things. It's one way to get fired or in trouble or even a lawsuit. We don't need lawsuits. Anyway, that's episode three, your top ten. That was fun. Aha. Please don't do any of that. Just like I said, don't do any of it. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. Now, back to the show. And yes, we're celebrating dispatch, but actually, I want to take a minute to thank everybody. That's right, you people out there, all you wonderful first responders, you wonderful men and women, for following us, listening to us, following us on Facebook, Instagram, all that stuff. And you're thinking, why are you pounding on your desk or whatever? Well, listen to this, people. That is, I don't even know how many pages because I don't feel like counting. Uh, of all our followers of the show, whether the show, whether on Spotify, uh, iHeart, Apple, Facebook, Instagram, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think we're close to a thousand people on Facebook alone. Thank you so much. This is amazing. Oh my goodness. It it just it floors us like you wouldn't believe. We we cannot believe how just wonderful this is. That you're all taking your time to to listen to us, to follow us, the whole nine yards. Oh my gosh, thank you very much. And if you have uh anything that you want us to know, by all means email us at 911 Squirrel Podcast at gmail.com or catch us on Facebook or Instagram. But yes, this all these people. Oh my gosh, if I read all the names, I'd be here through May 17th. Uh anyway, speaking of stories, got this email from a listener, and his name is Lucky LT because names have been changed to protect the innocent. Uh, and he sends this story and I read it, and I about died. Uh, we're celebrating dispatchers, but this is not about dispatch, this is about just perfect. This is a perfect story. So Lucky LT writes, I wanted to share a story about my friend and mentor, a happily retired lieutenant at my fire department. Hey, congratulations, LT. I'm glad you got to retire. Uh, this LT was getting crap from his wife about returning home from work tired and needing a nap every day after work. She didn't believe that running calls at night would cause him to be as tired as he was. We work for a very busy carrier department in Colorado. Hey, Colorado, shout out to you. And are generally up all night every night while there are days of chill and watching games on TV. Those days are few and far between. You know how it goes. Yes, preach to the choir, lucky. Uh after months of her giving him crap, he got tired of the BS. One and there's a period there. After months of her giving him crap, he got tired of the BS. One night, see that's where the period was. Uh one night he set his alarm for half hour after she went to bed. Then he then woke her up, made her get in the car, and drive 15 minutes away, and then drive home. Oh, it gets better. He then proceeded to do the same thing every hour or two, waking her up. Uh, this is the best one. Sometimes to walk to the car, turn around, and go back to bed. Other times to go drive to the local park and walk a lap, then drive home and go back to bed. After this night, she was obviously destroyed. She never gave him another word of grief. I hope you enjoyed the story. Signed a lucky LT. That's great. This is classic, classic, classic. Uh first of all, whether if she married him when he was a fire firefighter, because he retired, so he's been there a while. Um if she married him when he was already a firefighter, then she should have known better. Uh if she married him uh before he became a firefighter, so what? It's same. It's it's gosh, go go do the job. See what happens when you go do the job. Oh my goodness gracious, pee picking well. And Lucky, uh I got a question for Lucky here. Uh a busy carrier department, forgive my ignorance. What's a carrier department? Or is that a typo? I I'm just curious. Um if you please explain it to me. Send me another email and explain it to me. I I'd like I'd I'd like to know what that is. Or if it's if it is a typo, then great. I I'm please forgive me for my stupidity. Because I don't know. And I'm just asking a question. But that's a classic story. But that also leads me back to all the other fun stuff. If you have stories. That's right. You people have stories. And I know you do, and I'm gonna get a drink of tea here. I know you got stories. I know the lake Lake Port firefighters got stories. I know let me get this list out. I know that uh Vicky Slay has stories. Let me turn to another page. Uh uh uh Tim Cochran, you got a story about Jeff Jaros? Jar Jaros? Uh uh Steven Adams, uh Tooney Thomas, Tooney? Christy Dingle. Uh oh, I know Matt Gilmore has stories. Oh boy, do I know Matt Gilmore has stories. If Matt Gilmore doesn't have stories, then the world's coming to an end. If you don't know who Matt is, uh that that guy's got stories. So does oh, I'll have to have Jake on here too, Jake Edgar, um, and some other people. Uh but anyway, send your stories, send your recipes, send send us uh uh uh the answers to Miss Williams test for Thursday. I don't care. Uh send it all to 911Scroll Podcast at gmail.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram. I need to get a TikTok. Tic Tac? I need to get we because there's more people that work on this than just me. Uh we need to get a TikTok, I think. I think that would just be Yeah. I think we need to get a TikTok. And if we do get a TikTok, by all means do we tell. Please follow us. Now, we're not very good at making videos all the time. But, you know, but we uh you we love that you follow us. Yeah, we're gonna be at a thousand just on Facebook alone. Golly, that's just ridiculous. But yeah. All right, let's go on to other things.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

This is the briefing. News from around the country that affects the policies, procedures, or employment of first responders. And now, the briefing.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Okay, as as that cool tech voice said, yeah, there's this is the briefing where we look for things uh within the world of first responders that affects all kinds of stuff. Anyway. And since it's dispatcher week, and I found this just by accident. I already knew. We we already knew that we were gonna make this about dispatchers because it is dispatcher week. Or sorry, public safety communications week, if you don't mind, sir. All right. Um, so this story I just happened to find, and it's perfect because it reiterates what I have already said. And that is dispatchers should be first responders. Well, this is from WTVG in Toledo. Toledo, Ohio. Where half the population wants to be in Michigan, the other half wants to be in Ohio, and I don't know. I think that's where this the next civil war will start in Toledo. Anyway, oh, if you go to Paco, you gotta go to Paco's, Paco's Hungarian hot dogs, it's great up there.

unknown 23:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 23:52

Good stuff. I haven't been in years, but it's good stuff. Anyway. Let's get back to the story. So, yes, this comes from WTVG in Toledo, and it was done on April, at least I think they're in Toledo, uh, April 14th. And it says, uh, they are the first voice you hear when you need help in an emergency. But you might be surprised to find out that 911 dispatchers are not considered first responders. Lucas County leaders took a step to change that. Um 911 dispatchers don't just direct emergency crews to an emergency. According to Corporal Julian Flag Flagge, we'll just call her Corporal Julian, she quotes, uh, we are daily providing we are daily providing life saving instructions. Yes, she's a daytime supervisor at the Wood County Dispatch Center. And with every call, they gather critical information specific to the situation. Public dispatchers are not recognized as first responders. The federal and state governments classify them in the same category, get this as bus or commercial truck drivers. Are you serial? I wish I would have known that because then I'd really go on a rant. Boy, I could have gone on a rant today. Um what'd we call her? Corporal Julian said that being classified as a first responder would provide better benefits and retirement options. Duh. And Lucas County Commissioners symbolically recognize 911 dispatchers as first responders. Symbolically? Really? Just make the just just press the ordinance or the law or whatever. Just do it. Don't do it. Don't be the symbolic resolution, any of that crap. If you want to make them first responders, do it. Because they deserve to be first responders anyway. Oh. Okay. Let me get back into happy spot here. Let me get a drink before I go crazy off politicians. Because the next story's going to be about politicians too. But yes, I do believe that dispatchers should be first responders. I think 99% of you might agree with me. I could be wrong. I don't know. And I don't know how to do a poll on my podcast, because I haven't sat there and figured it out. Anyway, we will our podcast. Thank you very much. I keep getting hit every time I say I. There's no I in team. Okay. Uh so yes. Comments, questions, you know where to send them to 911 Squirrel Podcast at Gmod.com or on Facebook or Instagram. And I know we have lots and lots of people in that are following us that are dispatchers. All right, that's that story. Yes, go Toledo, make them first responders. This one is not about dispatch. This one is I'm not even sure where to go with this. Uh this comes from Fire Rescue One, the magazine for firefighters, and the headline is Firefighter Exodus, a roundup of mass resignations.

unknown 27:07

Shh.

SPEAKER_03 27:08

And this is happening everywhere. There's there was five in a county in Texas that stepped away because of no confidence in the district's board. Uh last year, the FDNY commissioner cited fundamental differences with the mayor elector, now mayor Mamdami and resign. A Tennessee Fire Chief in the entire volunteer fire department resigned in November. Uh also in November, uh South Carolina Chiefs resigned over officials after officials skip announcement over lack of funding. Thirteen Ohio firefighters last October resigned because the new chief called for all the captains to resign. I mean, this goes on and on, and usually this is fire departments. What in the world is going on? I would love to be able to say what I want to say, but I can't because I don't know the situations on any of them. I can guess. I can guess it's ego driven, it's politics, it's uh all that stuff, even without uh reading all these things. Um it's just ridiculous. You're doing this job, d one, take your ego out of it. And that goes for everybody. Politicians, first responders. I mean, you gotta be confident in your job, but take your ego out of it. This is ridiculous. Uh exoduses is everywhere. Oh my goodness. And yeah, it's mostly fire departments. I don't understand. I could go on a major rant. I I I would not be able to tell you the situations in all these places. I don't know the financial situation of these towns or counties or the fire departments. I don't know what these politicians are like, I don't know the personalities of these chiefs or whoever. I don't know. I you got me. So having an opinion on it is is uh sh purely speculative. But my opinion is just get over yourselves. Man, if I was in that community, I would be PO'd. But yes, when it comes to this stuff, firefigh firefighters or EMS, whatever it is, I mean I've seen it happen in different departments uh that I've been around. I even know one chief that quit, and his entire fire department quit because of problems with um the city government or whatever. And even then I didn't know the whole story. And that's a chief, if he if if I had to go into a fire, I would be the first I I if he said Brad, come with me, I'd be like, shoot yeah, let's go. I'd go with into a fire with him anytime. I mean, he is he is a great firefighter, so I don't understand any of this stuff. I really don't. Uh Man oh man. His name is Brandon, by the way. Um so yeah, comments on this, by all means send them in. I'd like to I'd like to hear all your comments on this one. Especially from firefighters. I'd love to I I'm I I'm trying to be a little diplomatic because I'd it is true, I don't know the story. And Ugh I could read 'em and I could read all the different sound bites or the the quotes and stuff, and it's still not going to show me anything. So yeah. Give me your give me your thoughts on this one. On both of them, really. Uh tell me that dispatchers need to be first responders. Tell us that uh what we can do uh or i is is there any solution to all this exodus to just quitting uh especially in fire departments? By all means, do it, do it, do it, tell us 911 Squirrel Podcast at gmail.com or on Facebook or Instagram. Oh man, I I'm I'm wound up now. Good lord. I don't even need caffeine. Who needs caffeine when you can just get wound up with stories like that? I need another drink. I should have got some whiskey. Whiskey would have been great. Could you imagine me doing this podcast on on whiskey? I was with this guy. And he was guy in this big white drink. You know, I I just would How awesome would that be, actually? That would be awesome. I mean, it would be funny, and I would probably be embarrassed listening to it. But it would be uh interesting to say the least. Me having a few drinks and doing this podcast. Yeah, that's that's a smart move. Probably not. Okay. And now this.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Hey, you walking example of a weakling. My name is Rick Ranger, and this is my wife, Tanya. We are the owners of Raging Fitness, a gym for first responders. You telling babe. You need to be in shape to lift that supply line, carry that patient, or chase down that bad guy. Hey, come on, give me just five more. You need to be doing the job with a body that never wears down. Give me 20 more. We want you to be ready for that structure fire. If we are in the bathroom, or that's true, you gotta fall out of the car. It's clean and church, it's clean and cordial, you idiot. Walking off. So get your buttons out of here, and we'll turn your story soccer phones into a leading responding machine. We're located at 576 Church Street, between McDonald's and the bar Studs and Dud. Yeah, you tell them, baby. Right, we're fucking purpose.

SPEAKER_02 33:33

And now everyone's favorite component of the job, the in-service, where we have a discussion on certain procedures to improve our performance and deliver better outcomes. Let this in service begin.

SPEAKER_03 33:50

Okay, our in-service does not have a guest. You might ask why. Well, it's really simple. My gosh, I gotta quit drinking so much tea while I'm doing this. Okay, sorry about that. Uh, well, the subject that uh we're going to discuss here during the in service is a subject that I feel very passionate about. I have a major pet peeve when it comes to this stuff. And I'm talking about driving. No, Brad, not driving. We do this every year with Evox, blah, blah, blah. Okay. I know we do this every year. And I know your driving is probably pretty pretty good. Um, Evox State, local department directives, governed vehicles. I get all that. I've been there, own the orange cones that I've run over. Okay. Uh we I could get into top heavy weight, stopping distance, speed awareness, cornering, navigating, intersections, planning ahead right-away, civilian panic, and so forth and so forth, and so forth. Uh, we could talk about checkoffs, both equipment and vehicle maintenance and how important that is, which it is. I have been embarrassed because of a piece of missing piece of equipment at the time that we needed it. Um also kind of did uh what are the what is it? Uh I did the uh the glance checkoff, just kind of look, oh, it's all good, you know, because I got lazy, I'll admit it. And I I've been there, I've done that. And you should feel embarrassed for missing a supply item or or a mechanical issue that all you had to do was look. Take that extra two seconds and look. I got lazy, and you do, you get lazy for that one second thinking, oh, I'm sure it's fine, oh, we never use it, or uh, oh, they didn't say anything to me at shift change. That's my favorite excuse. So that leads me into what I want to talk about, which is attitude. The attitude that you have doing the job and driving, of course, driving is going to be a big part of this. Now, before you start yelling at me through whatever device you're listening through, I am just as guilty. I've been there, I've done that, I've done all the stupid things that you could do. Um and I've overlooked things because I wanted to go to breakfast, or it's too hot, or it's too cold, or whatever silly excuse I said to myself. But then my attitude changed uh because, well, one, there one excuse is didn't didn't see if there was a flat tire on the on the truck. Didn't take the the two seconds to look or pound a tire or whatever. Well, guess what? It was it was flat. You couldn't tell, but it was flat. What do we do? We shred a tire, go to maintenance. That's two hours, three hours, that never get back. And uh and just like I said, missing a piece of equipment. I was really embarrassed because it was in front of my supervisor too. Missing a piece of equipment just at on a call where we needed it. Luckily, we had a different piece of equipment that is for the same thing, but still, it is very, very, very embarrassing. So you could say those two things were an attitude adjustment for me. And that's what I'm calling for. Your attitude covers all kinds of things when it comes to the service of your community. How you treat your teammates, your crewmates, your the victims, the patients, the bystanders, how you carry yourself, how you do your job. And when it comes to driving, your attitude, it will be very apparent to the people riding with you. Think about that for a second. What are you thinking when someone else is driving? Are you thinking about, oh, you know, you're looking on your phone and you're all nice and comfortable? Or are you thinking about their speed, how they stop, how they corner? Believe me, you've been in those cars. I have. I remember one uh friend of mine picked me up from the airport. This first time I ever was in a car with him, and he was driving. And he brought me home from the airport, doing 90 miles an hour up I-65, and I'm like, good lord, and just weaving it out of traffic. I'm like, dude, I'm in not that big a hurry. But anyway, I digress. Uh, so there's two groups of people you should automatically have in mind when you're driving. The first group is anybody outside that vehicle. Walkers, cyclists, kids. Oh man, kids. Are they the most unpredictable? I mean, just run out in the road. You ought to have to be aware of panic drivers that panic when you come up behind them. Oh, do I go to the right? Yeah, duh. Hello. Uh, entitled Karen's. Um, and those are the ones that are like I've gotten flipped off because one lady would not get out of the left lane, and I went to pass her in the right lane, and she flipped us off. We're running hot. I'm like, are you kidding me? All right. Well, I hope you never need an ambulance. No, I mean that's what we all think, but you know. The second group of people that you have to worry about are anybody inside your vehicle. That's right. Your partners, your crew, your patients, even the criminals you take to the Sally port. As a driver, you are responsible for their safety. Period. They should feel comfortable. They shouldn't have to worry. The job is stressful enough. They should not have to worry about your driving, going to a call, or even going back. They should be having their mind on the job. Um, if you're driving a pump or do a structure fire, you don't want your crew or your captain sitting, lieutenant sitting next to you or whatever, going, dude, you know, that you you need them to focus on what they're doing, getting packed up the whole nine yards. How about in the back of an ambulance? Oh my gosh. I learned quickly in the back of an ambulance how you should drive. I mean, when I was young and stupid, I got yelled at one time for driving too fast, for slamming on the brakes, for, you know, all that stuff. No, look ahead. But you think people are wearing seatbelts in the back? Of course not. The most secure peep person in the back or persons in the back of an ambulance is the patients, because they're secured in. They're they got all kinds of belts, you know, and especially if they're on the cot. And so they better be secured in. But everybody else? No. They're working, they're moving around, grabbing stuff, blah, blah, blah. And we all agree on that contract. We all take on that responsibility. When you get in the back, hey, it's going to be a little wobbly. You're going to move around a little bit. We all accept that little danger. As a driver, how much more danger do you want to add? Do you want to be one of those guys that slams on the brakes and then um, you know, when you don't need to, or take a corner going the whole nine yards. I mean, you're trying to start an IV or innovate somebody. Um, is that more important? Or is taking this corner as fast as you can because you watched uh Fast and Furious more important? You know, you don't you can't drive any of these vehicles or even your own personal vehicle like you're like you're in the movies. Um what uh it's it's just I don't I don't want to drive a pumper and then somebody saying, dang, Brad, can you get in closer to these passing cars? Well, I don't I don't want that. Um I mean I've I've yelled at drivers, hey, slow down. And when I started drive when I first got in a first responder, I was I was all about driving. I wanted to drive. I wanted to be the one running the stop signs and woo-woo woo-woo, even though you can't run a stop sign. But I wanted to be that guy controlling all that and going down the road, hey, I'm important. It's like being in a famous band, you know, hey, you you you feel like a rock star. And I believe it or not, that's what you feel like. But that all changed once I'm in the back of an ambulance and we take a corner, and I got slammed into a wall with a that caused a bruised elbow and a sprained knee. All because the responder driving had the same attitude that I did when I was young and stupid, driving a curvy back road like he's one of the Duke cousins running from Boss Hog. That same responder showed up on another scene to which my partner Darren at the time told me, You're driving, I can have him do compressions. I'm like, sure, dude. Uh so which driver do you want to be? What reputation do you want? And let's face it, you you want to know if you're a good driver? It's real easy. Do you hear do you hear any comments on your driving? Do you? Do you does anybody come up to you and and tell you, man, you suck? I hopefully in a in a constructive way, hey man, you gotta do this, you gotta do that, you know, and I hope the lieutenants or captains are taking care of this. But um you know, who do you want to be? And that's the easiest way to find out if you're a good driver. Do you hear any comments? You don't hear any comments, guess what? You're a good driver. Keep doing what you're doing. Um the minute you hear comments, they're gonna be negative. And you better change something because you want everybody to be comfortable. You know what I I put it toward? You ever seen tour buses? Musicians on, you know, the your favorite band comes to town and they're on a tour bus. You know those drivers, most of them, and I and I mean most of them. I'm I'm I've been a musician for 30 years, so and I've been on tour buses. And I've even driven tour buses. And those guys, if you can sleep in that bus, because most of the time you're traveling overnight, if you can sleep in that bus, that's a good driver. If you can fall asleep after a show, let's say it's 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock at night, and you wake up in the next town tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, nine o'clock, and you slept on Night, you got a good driver. Because they're all about comfort. They're gonna get there with speed, but they're all about comfort and making sure you're not disturbed while you're sleeping, because you got another show next day. So put it toward that. I mean, how you drive speaks volumes on your professionalism too. You take it seriously, it means you take your job seriously. That's where your attitude should be. And your attitude should be professional, respectful, a teammate. Now you can have fun, as you can plainly see listening to this podcast. Believe me, I've had fun. I know a lot of people that have had a lot of out-eyed. And you can't kind of try. No, people have a lot of fun at work. They do all that stuff. But gotta be gotta be good. So when it comes to driving, back off the speed a little bit. Watch your corners. Plan ahead. You can see the stop sign coming. You can see the lights coming, the intersections coming, blah, blah, blah. You're on a foggy day, back it up. Make sure you can see. Make sure you're it there's a respectable speed you can go and storms and all that stuff. The golden rule still applies. You want to drive like you would want to be driven. I mean, that's all there is to it. If you want to be driven like you know, you're gonna be jumping hills and riding on two wheels. You should not drive. You really shouldn't. And this goes even for your personal vehicle.

SPEAKER_04 45:35

Stay safe. Drive normal.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

Defensive driving is actually really good. And it keeps you out of the drama of wrecks and speeding tickets. Well, it didn't keep me out of a speeding ticket this past week because of a camera. But it keeps you out of drama that drama. So drive with common sense, plan ahead, and stay, stay, stay stay, stay, stay, stay, stay. Very, very, very safe. Because we all need you. Boy, do we need you? Just all there is to it. If you can do it, great. And that's the end service for the day. Boy, I've gone on a couple rants already. This is kind of fantastic. And having a drink and all this kind of stuff. So I think we will go on. And we will go on to my favorite segment, and the one that we have the most fun putting together.

SPEAKER_04 46:37

Greetings and welcome to another edition of the Grand Scrual Theater, where true stories are told in a theatrical style. This episode's recital is a last-minute thrown-together skit by our director who doesn't seem to be sleeping well these days. Sit back and enjoy this wonderful saga entitled The Joke. This is Alan. Looks like he's sleeping. All cozy and warm on a cold winter evening. Alan is a firefighter, or so it's been said, with a department radio on the stand next to his bed. Doo doo, beep, beep, beep.

SPEAKER_03 47:24

The radio screams with delight. Alan scrambles out of bed, looking for a light. The radio said MVA, car versus tree. The call is for rescue, ambulance, along with other needs. Alan dons his turnouts and heads for the truck. Jimmy, Tara, and Rob all do the same, something minor with any luck. Upon arrival, Alan inspects the wreck. No fluids or hazards, not even a speck.

SPEAKER_04 47:54

Three people are standing on the side of the road. They all deny injuries and nothing showed.

SPEAKER_03 48:01

Just then a deputy arrived in a car built for speed. He is tall and bald. His name is Steve. Alan noticed a headlight out on Steve's deputy cruiser.

SPEAKER_04 48:13

He thought of a joke, because this car is a snoozer.

SPEAKER_03 48:17

Alan asked nicely for Steve's ticket book. Steve handed it over, not giving Alan a second look. You see, Alan is the chief. He's done this before. He wrote the where's, whys, how's, and of course, the what for's.

SPEAKER_04 48:34

Alan walked back over, gave the ticket to Steve. Your headlight is out, as you can plainly see. Steve took the ticket with a laugh and a sigh.

SPEAKER_03 48:44

Jimmy, Tara, and Rob were chuckling nearby. Everyone smiled because they enjoyed the joke. Steve told the story to all the other deputy folk.

SPEAKER_04 48:56

Three days later, Alan received a call. Come see the sheriff. He'd like to have a talk. Alan met the sheriff in the office of the top cop. The sheriff told Alan the jokes must stop.

SPEAKER_03 49:10

Alan sighed and apologized with a grin and told the sheriff, it would never happen again. The sheriff smiled and said, off the record, that joke was quite funny. Something I've never heard. The moral of this story is actually quite clear. Play your jokes, has some fun, but don't let the supervisors hear. The end. Oh my goodness. Yes, um. This that segment brought to you by Dr. Seuss. We have a lot of fun putting those segments together. Um, and I can honestly tell you that all stories you hear on you hear on 911 Squirrel are based on true events. And the names have been changed to protect the innocent, obviously, because we don't want to get anybody in trouble. I will say this, just like I said earlier. Do not do these things. If you do any of these, you're on your own. I do not want to get a phone call from anybody saying, hey, guess what? And I have nothing to do with it. All I am doing is telling you true stories. So don't do any of that stuff. If a lawyer calls me, I'm gonna be like, uh-uh, I got it on record. Do not do these things. So don't do them. Now here's a challenge. A challenge. Yeah. Good, a challenge. I know. Boy, do I know. Because I I live with you people for 20 years. I know you all have a sense of humor. You have to have a sense of humor to do this job. I wanna see that sense of humor. I wanna see your own if you come up with a top ten list if you send in a top ten list and we use it because it's funny, and it probably will be, then we're going to use it. We're gonna give you a big huge shout out, and because we like to hear uh y'all's stories uh about how you became a a first responder. We'd like to hear your bio basically. We we will give you a call, we will interview you, and you'll be an interview on one of our podcasts. Uh so by all means send us your top ten list. We'd love I'd gosh, we we'd love to see 'em. And anything else in that fact. Uh if you send in a top ten list, you get all that fun stuff. But um if you send us your stories, send us your comments, send us uh uh your dog's pooping schedule. I don't care. Send us whatever at 911 squirrelpodcast at gmail.com. That's right, that's 911 Squirrel Podcast all one word at gmail.com. Or you can catch us on Facebook, Instagram, blah, blah, blah. Uh I'm not gonna lift up that whole list of people who have follow us, followed the show, followed us on Facebook and Instagram. And again, can't thank you enough for all that. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your crewmates, tell your partners, tell anybody, the guy on the street with, you know, just sitting there on his phone, uh, Mr. Important in the Starbucks on his computer, you know, tell them all to listen to this. It's fun. And we it's all about having a good time. And hopefully, and if they're just normal, they're not even in, and they're not even a first responder, they're not in the service. Tell them anyway, because uh a friend of mine said, Oh, he's been listening to the podcast and he's learning a lot. And I'm thinking, wow, okay, cool. So tell everybody to fall to listen to us and download us and all that kind of stuff. Ah, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please. Other than that, this has been a fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun episode. At least for us anyway. And uh hopefully uh next week we'll we're definitely having a guest on, may even have somebody for the entire show, kind of like a guest host, but they're more of a guest. Uh may have a couple over the next week. Another thing we're gonna do is we're gonna go to uh a department and and just interview a bunch of people and and have fun with all that. Uh that's that's our plan. That's what we want to do. We're trying to make this about y'all. We want to make it about y'all because it is about you all. This is why we do it, this is why it's so much fun. So keep those emails and comments coming, keep uh following us on all the socials, on all the podcast streaming services, and all that. God bless you. Thank you for your service. Uh stay safe. Thank you, everybody. We'll we'll see you. We'll see you. We'll talk to you soon.