Episode 158 features Kim Turner, Communications Manager for San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in California. She’s also the President of Kim Turner LLC. In this episode Kim tells her 9-1-1 story from dispatch to a police officer and back to run a dispatch center. She shares her experience with a car accident that caused a traumatic brain injury and how dispatch saved her life. She also shares stories from two major incidents in and around her county.
This is a must listen! As always if you have any comments, questions or you want to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.
Podcast Sponsor –
Dispatch In Depth by the IAED – iTunes | Stitcher Radio | Soundcloud
Guest –
Kim Turner, LLC – Facebook | Twitter | Web
San Bernardino County Terrorist Attack –
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/02/us/san-bernardino-shooting/index.html
Episode topics –
- Kim’s 9-1-1 story
- How 9-1-1 dispatch saved her life
- The Christopher Dorner incident
- San Bernardino County Terrorist Attack
- And more…
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Within the Trenches Ep 80
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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 this podcast has 80 episodes under its belt. I started this adventure telling my stories through a written segment on my blog, the Jabber Log and it eventually evolved into a podcast. What I wanted to do from the beginning was tell the stories of the unsung heroes of 911 and here I am. I love doing this and the stories are all amazing. I just want to thank the listeners for the support throughout this journey and this episode is going to be excellent.
My guest today has been in public safety for some time now and his story is one that I have wanted to cover since I heard about it from my friend Tom with the Cool Kids of 911 Facebook page. His name is Steve and he is the director for Fairfax County 911 out of Virginia. His stories range from his first day in the chair to present day. Steve has many stories and I look forward to having him on again.
As always if you have any questions or would like to be on the show you can send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com
Note: There are a couple spots where there is an echo but it does not take away from the episode so enjoy.
Episode topics –
- How Steve started out in dispatch
- The day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated & the DC riots
- Opinion on texting
- How much different is 911 now from when Steve started
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Remembering Family Through Humor
A good sense of humor is a quality that I look for in people. My sense of humor has always been outrageous and if you have been keeping up with my posts then you know first hand how true this is. I try to see the humor in everything really, but where did this come from? Has it been passed down through generations of family or was it a few specific family members that led the way? I think my entire family has a good sense of humor but there were a few people that really stood out. They helped mold my humor into what it is today. The two people I want to talk about are my Abuela (grandmother) Jimenez and my Tia (aunt) Paula. Both of these beautiful and humorous women made my family and I laugh constantly. It didn’t matter what was going on, they could turn it into a laugh fest. They were full of life and looked beyond the drama. This is what I loved about them.My granny lived with my family and I from the time I was born and up until I graduated high school. There were little things she used to do that was hilarious and I think she got a kick out of our reactions. For example, my parents would head out for a church meeting and sometimes they wouldn’t return until 9 or 10pm. She knew that my parents wanted us in bed early but she would let us stay awake anyway. As soon as she heard them pull in she would yell at us to run and get into bed. I remember being startled many times and I would push my siblings out of the way so that I could get into bed first. As we ran to safety I could hear granny laughing her butt off at the sight of our panic. There were times where we would be raising hell and she would warn us a few times before saying something to the effect of, “It’s out of my hands” but in spanish. She was funny like that. If we learned a lesson the hard way she would make sure to remind us how we got to that point. On top of that, she really knew how to scare the little kids and I think she enjoyed doing it. Back when we were growing up my granny would buy a pig head in order to make tamales. I remember coming home from school one day and my sibling and cousins who accompanied us were griping about something. My granny must have had a hard day because she immediately told the younger kids that if they didn’t stop arguing that the “Pig Head” was going to get them in their sleep. I knew better and chuckled but the younger kids got quiet. After a bit they started up again and granny brought them into the kitchen and opened up the fridge to reveal a large pig head. They would scream and I think one of them even cried and granny had to hold back from laughing. I remember her yelling for them to behave. I would tell her that she was wrong and she would shrug her shoulders and continue making tortillas.
It’s hard to think of everything she did because there was so much. I also remember when I lived with my family in Florida and she would joke about hitting me. Now, at this time my granny was in her early 80’s. She would be in the kitchen making tortillas and I would walk in and jab her side. She would immediately throw up her rolling pin in defense and tell me that she would hit me if I did it again. I would laugh it off like a little kid and I would do it again. She gave me one final warning and on the third jab I got slapped in the arm and face with a towel that she picked up without me noticing. She would laugh and laugh and tell me that I deserved it and I did but it was so much fun to heckle her because she fought right back. She didn’t take crap from anyone. Another person who had a take no crap attitude while keeping her sense of humor was my Tia Paula. This women cracked me up like you wouldn’t believe. I mean, she used to call me huesos which is spanish for bones because I was so skinny when I was a kid. How could someone not laugh at that? She also called me “Caldo” which is a soup that has little meat, some veggies, and a bone for flavor. The dig on me referenced the fact that I was full of water combined with a little meat and bones like Caldo. She used to scare my younger cousins with the pig head like granny but she also used something that creeps me out even now. She used the ever popular Pennywise The Clown from Stephen King’s IT. I’m sure my cousins remember that clown and my Tia never called him by his name, she simply called him a payaso, which is clown in spanish.
“If you don’t settle down, the payaso is going to get you! You want me to put it on so you can see him?”
She used to yell that to the little kids when they were naughty. It was funny to hear her do this because you could tell that she wanted to laugh once the kids got scared. Now I know It seems harsh and cruel but it worked. It’s pretty funny when I look back at it now. My granny and Tia Paula would tell it like it is because there was no room for beating around the bush. If we were going to get hurt by doing something we were not supposed to they would tell us and with detail. It really made us think about what the consequences would be if we continued to jump around and act up. I do this now and it’s funny to see the reaction on my sons face. I don’t use the pig head or the payaso but I use detail to let his little mind imagine how bad the consequences can be if he doesn’t listen and behave. This is done with humor and I can thank my granny and Tia for it. Sadly, they have passed on but it’s their humor that sticks with my family and I. My Tia’s all have a piece of my granny with them and I see her humor come out in them at times. It’s something I love to witness because I can seem my granny in them. My Tia Paula has three children who are older than me but they all took care of me at one time or another because I was always with them. My Tia loved and spoiled me. I like to think of my relation to my cousins as the little brother they never wanted. I say this as a joke but seriously, they probably saw more of me than they wanted to back then. I try to visit them as much as I can because their humor is exactly like my Tia’s. The humor is crass, outrageous, and off the wall, just like my Tia. It’s why I love to be in their presence and I see her in all three of them. Thank you Abuela Jimenez and Tia Paula for always being you. Thank you for molding my personality and my sense of humor. You taught me that no matter how bad a situation can be, there is always a way to keep a smile on my face. Although I want to cry as I think about the both of you, I will do what you taught me. I will simply laugh…
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Do you want a happy birthday?
Today I confirmed that I have developed the highly useful “Look of Discipline” (LOD). You know that look right? It’s the look that your parents gave you when you were acting up and once you saw it you knew you were toast. I gave this look to my seven year old today at church and he knew I was not messing around. When I turned back I had to hold back from laughing because it made me think of all the times I saw that look from my parents. It was mostly my father who gave the look but when it came from my mom I knew I was dead. For anyone who knows my mom you know how sweet and nice she is but if you cross her she will let you know where to put it. I had to have been about 13 or 14 when I first witnessed the wrath of my mother and her version of the LOD. She had been giving me face for something I had done and I wasn’t having it. I didn’t want to hear what she had to say and when she turned around I flipped her off. Now I know this sounds really bad and it is but I made a huge mistake. For those who have never seen the inside of my old house in Fennville, it had a large window in the living room and when this occurred it was at night and the lights were on. Can you guess what happened next? I can see myself in slow motion flipping my mom the bird and hearing a loud screech of,“What did you just do!?”
It was the perfect example for a parents having eyes behind their head. She was still facing the window and I focused in on my reflection with my finger still up and a version of LOD that brought my heart up into my throat and a pucker that only a laxative could cure. I put my hand down and tried to cover it up.
“I..I…didn’t do anything mom!” I was so frightened and I could smell the early stages of death.
“Don’t you lie to me! I saw your reflection in the window.”
My mom walked up to me and slapped me back to birth! I kept apologizing to her but there was nothing that could take away the LOD from hell.
“Just wait until your dad gets home!”
Now what she said was, “Just wait until your dad gets home” but what I heard was “Chopper sick balls”. Yeah that’s not what I heard but I couldn’t help saying it and I don’t think she ever told him because he never said anything to me but man did I screw up.
The times that it happened with my dad was more or less when we were in public and if we didn’t listen to him we heard something that still sends chills up my spine. This phrase was uttered many times and it goes something like this, “Do you want a happy birthday?” Now when we heard this my siblings and I knew that we were screwed. One time in particular that I remember was hearing this at a restaurant which is obviously in public. This phrase was to disguise the fact that I or my siblings were going to get our asses handed to us.
“Hi, may I take your order”, asked the waitress.
I had been provoking my siblings as usual and with the waitress standing in front of my family my father let out the dreaded happy birthday phrase. It was just enough to hear him say that but with his LOD it made it worse and we immediately stopped what we were doing. The unsuspecting and naive waitress could only respond with,
“Oh! Is it your birthday?”
I turned and nodded my head but it really wasn’t my birthday and all I could think was, “No lady! I’m about to have my ass handed to me!” I didn’t feel the wrath of my father but it set me straight for the day. It’s funny how parents mask discipline with a funny phrase but others lay it all out and it works. I can remember a time when my wife and I were passing by the toy section in Wal-Mart and we heard a lady struggling with her child and to get her son to realize she was no longer playing she yelled out,
“Son if you don’t get over here I will smack the black off you!”
It was hilarious and it was just what the doctor ordered. That little boy jumped right up and went with his mom. We heard a variation of this in a similar place but the mom in this one yelled out,
“If you don’t get up off that floor I will smack you in front of God and everybody in this store.”
It was simply an empty threat but it got the kids attention. These are only a few that I can recall right now but if I can remember some more I will definitely post it. If you can recall any times you witnessed the LOD from your parents please comment and share your story. Also, if you are walking in the mall, eating in a restaurant or just out in public and you hear, “Do you want a happy birthday?” then you know some sweet, bratty child is about to get their ass handed to them.
