The Rural Responders Podcast

The Rural Responders Podcast

This podcast is for all of the responders in rural areas and for the citizens in rural areas as well. Often our fire and ambulance companies are overlooked, much to the detriment of their service to the community. We want to give people an idea of what it is like volunteering at, working for, and being served by, a fire department in a rural area. We also want to get as many people involved in volunteering as are willing, whatever your local fire department may be.

Episodes

March 3, 2026 30 mins
In this month's episode we hear from Peter Lynch he is the Chief of the McConnellsburg Volunteer Fire Company. We talk today about the Safe Haven Baby Box that McConnellsburg has put into their department. We talk about what a safe haven box is, how they work, and why McConnelsburg has one. You can learn more about their department on their website www.mvfc56.org you can learn more about safe haven baby boxes on their webs...
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In this month's podcast we talk with Fire Chief 9 Mark Sanders about how things have changed in the fire service as of late. Whether it is the increasing training requirements, lack of free time for the majority of people, and seemingly ever increasing costs, things are changing. If you enjoyed this episode let us know. We would love to hear from you. Thank you very much for listening, visit our website at rururalresponder...
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February 1, 2026 110 mins
In this, our first episode of the new year we talk about the departments in our county, some past and some present, as well as some other mutual aid departments, or other units that may be requested to assist in mitigating an incident. We talk a little bit about our goals for the new year, and what we learned from last year. Our special guests for this episode are Melissa Berecin, Kevin Straub, Mark Sanders, and Brianna He...
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December 1, 2025 84 mins
In this episode we get to sit down for a little bit of a debate, and trivia with some very special guests including Mike Luger, Matt Elter, Fire Chief Mark Sanders, and Dale Myers III. From firefighting foam to how the fire service seems to run in the family for a lot of people. Please enjoy this episode, and if you do, let us know. We would love to hear from you. Thank you very much for listening, visit our website at rur...
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November 1, 2025 37 mins
In this month's episode we hear from Melissa Berecin and Mark Sanders about the Ambulance Club at MMPW. What is an Ambulance Club you may ask, and for the answer you will have to listen. We hear about the Ambulance Club, EMS billing at MMPW, Important information for the coming season, and plenty more. Visit our website at rururalresponders.com, send us a letter too while you are at it, our address is Rural Responders Podc...
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This is one of the more exhuberant episodes that we have recorded lately, we were fortunate to have two wonderful people on the podcast today that are both on staff with MMPW. We hope that you enjoy this podcast as much as we did. We hear from Mary and Josh who are both on the same shift, and obviously hate each other. You will learn by listening that I am being sarcastic when I say that, they really get along very well. W...
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In this episode we get to tell you our stories of how we got to where we are now in emergency services. I get to tell mine, and Mary tells hers. Mine is pretty short because I am still fairly new to everything, but Mary's has a bit more to it. Thank you very much for listening, visit our website at rururalresponders.com, why don't you send us a letter too, our address is Rural Responders Podcast PO BOX 42 MERCERSBURG PA ...
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August 1, 2025 37 mins
In this episode Mary and I go walk around at the MMPW block party, we talk to some of the people that came out for the event, and try to have a little fun along the way, we hope you enjoy the episode. Thank you very much for listening, visit our website at rururalresponders.com, why don't you send us a letter too, our address is Rural Responders Podcast PO BOX 42 MERCERSBURG PA 17236-0042.
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This episode marks one whole year since our first episode, we are very thankful for everyone that has put up with us for the past year, and we hope that you stick with us through this year to come as well. This episode we get a chance to talk with several people, Fire Chief 9 Mark Sanders, a semi-regular guest, Greg Weller a Montgomery Township Supervisor, and the following representatives from West Penn Power: Ty Carter -...
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In this month's episode we have a very welcomed opportunity to talk to two individuals from Franklin County Pennsylvania's Department of Emergency Services. We get to learn about what it is like in our dispatch center, what the first call of an incident might be like, what you should know when you call 911, and so much more. We hope that you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we did recording it. Thank you very muc...
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May 1, 2025 86 mins
This month we have some very special visitors with us from New Jersey, we have a great time with some old friends for a little longer than our usual podcasts. Please leave a comment if you are listening from a platform with that ability, or send us an email, our email address is info@ruralresponders.com. Thank you for listening.
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We are very excited to bring you this interview with Neil Gunnet, it was a little while in the making, but it is here now. Neil Gunnet as some may know is very passionate about helping people, and in this episode we learn just a little bit about how he has been able to help some of the victims of hurricane Helene. We learn about some of the damage that the hurricane has caused, how he has been able to help, and how many ot...
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This month we get to sit down with Jordan Conner, the coroner for Franklin County Pennsylvania. We get to know about what our coroner's office does, and how our area affects the office of the coroner. We get to hear some statistics about deaths in our county, and with that, a little about what we should be doing better. We hope you learn something from what you hear in this episode, if you do, please send us a letter. Mail...
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This month's episode was recorded and broadcast live from MMPW's Winter Wonderland Bazaar. We hope that you enjoy this episode, and if you do, we would love to hear from you. You can email us at info@ruralresponders.com, send us a message on our website ruralresponders.com, or you can send us a letter at Rural Responders Podcast PO BOX 42 MERCERSBURG PA 17236-0042. Thank you very much for listening.
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This episode is about what is coming up with MMPW, not just things this month like the Christmas event, but also things that are a little bit further away like the official beginning of our junior program in January. We also talk a little about the ambulance club, what the medic unit does, and so much more. Please send us an email if you like the episode, our email address is info@ruralresponders.com, thank you very much f...
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We were fortunate enough to have an extra special guest this week, Bill Adams. He tells us his story of an accident that he had involving a piece of fire apparatus. How it started, how it continued, and how it affects his life today.
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October 1, 2024 29 mins
Today we sit down with Chief Sanders, who is making himself somewhat of a regular, Greg Weller, and Bev Weller. We get a short report from Clayton about his Fire 1 class, then we continue right along with what has been going on this month in our area, and what will be going on in the months ahead. We hope you enjoy this episode of the Rural Responders Podcast.
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September 1, 2024 29 mins
For this month's episode we sit down with Calvin Chilcote who is Deputy Fire Chief 12, from the Fannett-Metal Fire and Ambulance Company. You can visit their website at fmfd12.com. We hope you enjoy this conversation with a department that may even be more rural than we are. If you like the episode, please let us know. You can email us at info@ruralresponders.com, send us a message on our website ruralresponders.com, or yo...
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August 1, 2024 34 mins
In this episode we sit down and talk to Chief Sanders from MMPW, he tells us a little bit about how he got started with firefighting, and with MMPW, where he is now, and what his goals are for the future of MMPW. If you like today's episode, or if there is something that you think we can do better, we would like to hear from you. You can email us at info@ruralresponders.com, send us a message on our website ruralresponders...
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July 9, 2024 24 mins
This episode is mostly about MMPW, we hear a little bit about our hosts, Mary Sanders and Clayton Smith, and we also learn a little bit about how the MMPW fire and ambulance company got started. We hope that you enjoy our first episode, and if you do, we would love to hear from you. You can email us at info@ruralresponders.com, send us a message on our website ruralresponders.com, or you can send us a letter at Rural Respo...
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