Episode 233: Episode 8-15 – Capt. David Wiklanski – “The Firefighter Behavioral Health Initiative”

David Wiklanski is an Engine Company Captain for an urban fire department in New Jersey. He has over twenty years in Emergency Services. Wiklanski is a speaker and writer, with most of his presentations on behavioral health, in addition to Suicide Terrorism. His mission is to end the stigma associated with mental health and to connect responders with the available resources to not only survive but thrive in their careers.  He has contributed articles to Fire Engineering, Firehouse Magazine, Firehouse Tribune, and Firefighting in Canada. His first book: Suicide Bombers, Understanding Suicide Terrorism from a Cultural and Memetic perspective is available online and he is currently working on authoring his next book.  Wiklanski has an MA in Behavioral Sciences-Human Behavior and Organizational Psychology from Kean University. He has been an adjunct professor at Kean University for the past 17 years. Wiklanski holds certifications as a Fire Instructor II, EMT Instructor, and NJ Certified Emergency Manager (NJCEM).  He is a Behavioral Health Specialist for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) working on projects such as the Taking Care of Our Own (TCOOO) course and the Uniformed Peer Support Program. He was recently hired as the Program Manager for the Vulnerability Assessment Program (VAP), an online risk assessment tool.   Here are a few links to the programs that we discussed. Also, if you can list my foundation email ([email protected]) for anything NFFF-related. Taking Care of Our Own: https://www.firehero.org/fire-service-resources/taking-care-of-our-own/Vulnerability Assessment Program: https://firevap.org/