Dear Chiefs Podcast

Ever wonder  how first responders stay in long term relationships? In this episode, we asked Destiny Morris of On_Being_Resilient to give us her recipe for long and healthy relationships and how individual goals were just as important as shared goals in a relationship.

Destiny Morris is a 28 year old, originally from a small town in Santa Barbara County and currently living in Ventura, California with her boyfriend  and  our golden doodle, Honey. She works in a residential treatment center for addiction, and recently completed graduate school and is an associate marriage and family therapist. Destiny will be going into private practice and will be available to take new CALIFORNIA clients next month. Destiny’s boyfriend works in a municipal department in the tri-county as a hand crew member which means he has an extremely unpredictable schedule. This is something she personally struggled with when fire season began and the reason she started the instagram page on_being_resilient. Destiny strongly believes that resiliency is something that can be taught and something we grow in as we learn more about ourselves and our partners. She is passionate about somatic therapy, which is how the body is directly related and affected by the mind and psychological stressors. She feels extremely blessed to have had the tools to work through some of the struggles in this lifestyle, and seek to educate and support other women with her instagram page.

Learn more:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/on_being_resilient/

Scott Hewett is back to expand on Rule #45 of his 50 Rules for Senior Firefighters: Your Fire Department Isn't Tinder. In his last episode we left you with this thought:

"Workplace romances are not unique to a specific industry.  But when it comes to firefighting and EMS: if there is any desire at all to date, or there are stresses in their current relationship at home there is no shortage of men  or women around that will play the perfect option and there is ample time to get to know them on a dating level."  In this episode we get into the weeds and discuss gender norms and how easy it is for romantic relationships to begin between coworkers (yes even married coworkers) in EMS.

Scott Hewlett is a second generation firefighter working in Ontario, Canada!  He’s done technical rescue, primary care medic, fire training officer and had co-led the Peer support team for the past decade. Scott started the podcast in 2017 providing a conduit for the great people in the departments and beyond to tell their stories.  

Learn more about Scott:

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/multiplecallspodcast/

Website: https://multiplecalls.squarespace.com/

When was the last time you checked on the female firefighters in your department? Do you know if they feel safe at work? Take a listen to this episode and find out why these conversations are so important to be having. Ali Rothrock wanted to be a firefighter and instead of letting a world dominated by men, convince her that she didn't belong, she found her way and now shares her story of trauma and adversity to help spread a message of resilience in hopes that it helps change the dialogue and culture of the fire service.

Ali Rothrock is an author, activist and speaker who has given over 450 presentations nationwide. Ali has worked as a sexual assault and domestic violence counselor and has enjoyed thirteen years in the volunteer fire service. Ali is the author of Where Hope Lives, which she published in 2010 and her second book After Trauma is available on her website for preorder. She is the CEO and Lead Instructor of On the Job and Off, an online platform dedicated to building more resilient first responders. Ali is also a Certified Trauma Responder through the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists.

Learn more about Ali:

website: https://www.aliwrothrock.com/

Tedx Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/ali_rothrock_resilience_is_an_act_of_rebellion

In this episode we sit down with Scott Hewlett of Multiple Calls Podcast and discuss the humans behind the badge, what role a senior firefighter can take in mentoring and creating a culture of growth mindset with their crew, and how ego can ruin it all for practically anyone.

Scott Hewlett is a 23 year, second-generation Firefighter working for a Department in Southern Ontario, Canada, with around 400 suppression personnel,13 stations and 18 apparatus. He spent the first half of his career at a Technical Rescue station, six years working as a primary care medic, 3 years instructing as a Fire Training Officer, and had the honour and pleasure of co-leading his  Peer Support Team for over a decade. Scott believes "there are stories to tell and we all carry them; about us as individuals, as crews, as platoons, and as a Departments. The wisdom and instruction about how to do the job are crucial, but the experiences and stories also help to shape our character and our Fire Family as a whole. Stories are important. Through story-telling, we find comfort in what connects us and expand our minds through our differences. " On his podcast, Multiple Calls Podcast, he provides a conduit for the great people within his own department and others to tell their stories. He  and his guests talk about the how and why of each guest's journey to the job, what challenges they have faced overall and how they made it through them, the struggles they see for our service and their ideas on how each of us can help ground and progress the job, as well as what keeps them inspired and motivated.

If you like this episode, be on the lookout for Part II when we talk about rule #45 of Scott's 50 Rules for the Senior Firefighter: "Your fire department isn't tinder"

Learn more about Scott:

Website: https://multiplecalls.squarespace.com/

50 Rules for the Senior Firefighter: https://multiplecalls.squarespace.com/new-page

insta: @multiplecallspodcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2AYDfPw4WN0GewRPqxkI70

In this episode with get to sit down with Sam Royer, the architecht of The HELPER Act, H.R. 3172 & S. 2981

The HELPER Act stands for "Homes for every local Protector, Educator, and Responder." This bill aims to provide our local law enforcement, fire-fighters, EMS, and K-12 Educators more affordable mortgage financing.

Sam Royer believes in helping American Heroes achieve the American Dream – buying their own home. As National Director of Heroes First Home Loans, Royer helps provide affordable mortgage financing for active and retired military members, police, firefighters, healthcare workers, educators and other civil servants. His experience in the U.S. Marine Corps and ability to forge relationships with frontline workers have allowed Royer to stake out a unique position in the industry while fueling his passion to give back to those who take care of us. He has been a consistent top performer in the mortgage business and has garnered numerous awards for his work, including from the Daytona Beach Police Department, Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

Learn more about The HELPER Act: https://www.heroesfirst.com/the-helper-act

The HELPER Act Bill:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3172/text?r=298&s=1

We sat down with Alex Jabr of Emergency Resilience during a previous episode  and discussed Administrative Betrayal and Occupational Resilience in EMS. During the interview, Alex asked us what we thought was needed to support families in the fire service, and we all came to the conclusion that no one ever asks the families, so we decided it was time to step up and the Firefighter Significant Other Survey was born.

The purpose of the survey was to better understand the needs of families in the fire service and learn about what advantages/disadvantages there are to being in a committed relationship with a firefighter. Our intent was to learn how to better serve our listeners, followers and the fire service as a whole.

In this episode, we had the opportunity to sit down again with Alex and discuss the responses to the survey.

*This survey, the questions, or the answers are solely the opinion of the individual respondents and do not represent any specific agency*

Learn MOre about Alex and Emergency Resilience by visiting her linktree at https://linktr.ee/emergencyresilience or find her on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/emergencyresilience/

Want to shop for groceries from the convenience of your home and  have them delivered to your door? Try instacart: instacart.oloiyb.net/6bd9Gr

Ben Vernon, a San Diego Firefighter-Paramedic responded to what he thought was a routine call for an intoxicated male on June 24, 2015. He thought it would be just another run of the mill duty day, until he figured out he was wrong.

A nearby onlooker, unrelated to the intoxicated male, picked a fight, first with transit security officers, then with Ben and another paramedic from his crew.  The assailant produced a knife and Ben was stabbed multiple times and almost died.

In this episode we speak with Ben about the incident and his resulting battle with PTSD. 

Find out how Ben overcame his PTSD, returned to work, and grew to be a stronger person than ever before.

Ben Vernon has proudly served the citizens of San Diego as a Firefighter/Paramedic with the Fire Rescue Department for over a decade. He’s a member of the Hazardous Materials and Technical Rescue Teams, the FEMA California Task Force Eight Urban Search and Rescue Team and holds five specialist positions. On June 24, 2015, Ben's life changed. While responding to a "routine medical assistance" call, he was stabbed multiple times by a bystander. The incident led Ben to become a champion for first responder PTSD recognition and treatment. He now travels the country to share his story to help others, while still continuing to serve his community from Station 14 in San Diego.

Learn More:

website: http://benvernon.com/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benjaminvernonpublicspeaker/

Have a lot going on at home? Want someone else to do your grocery shopping for you and deliver it to your door? Try instacart: instacart.oloiyb.net/6bd9Gr

When the job seems like it's getting to serious or when you just need a good laugh, SD Fire Brigade is there for ya! 

Ok, here's the deal, we've been talking about a lot of heavy stuff here on the podcast lately, so we thought we would bring you some light hearted fun! We sat down with the man behind SD Fire Brigade. A instagram page devote strictly to memes about mandatory overtime and force hires, and the infamous Mando Van. He tells us why he started the memes and how it's changed his outlook on his job. 

Want to see some funny videos or get in on the caption contests? 
Check SD Fire Brigade out on insta: https://www.instagram.com/sdfirebrigade/
Visit the website: https://sdfirebrigade.com/

Have you or your significant other ever felt betrayed at work? No one wants to talk about how administrative betrayal is a form of emotional abuse, but we did.  In this episode, we talk with Alex of Emergency Resilience about the harm that comes from a management system that constantly betrays its employees and how it can break down resilience programs before they even start. Alex even opens up about how she was once betrayed by her own boss and the eventual outcome of that betrayal.

Alex is an EMT-P, resilience educator and behavioral health advocate who helps departments build resilience programs.

Learn More:
https://www.instagram.com/emergencyresilience/

Take the Firefighter Significant Other Survey:
https://surveyhero.com/c/ggfnqica?ltclid=08725da9-b09d-454f-9d25-ba0b8ab8b409

Do you ever find yourself doing things that you know are self sabotaging when times get tough? Us too! That's why we decided to sit down and have a serious conversation with Ashley Beaudin about why we self sabotage and how to create a more supportive environment for ourselves.

Ashley is a self-sabotage and “slow business coach helping people create support lives and businesses. Ashley endeavors to help people shift from the harshness and hurry of self-sabotage, one size fits all businesses and self-bypassing that is all too common in our modern world. She wants to help you connect, trust, and lead yourself. To help you discover who you truly are underneath it all.  She offers supportive, gentle, and honest conversation to give the room and resources to create an inner dialogue and an outer expression that is deeply supportive so that the world will know your magic!

Take Ashley's Self-Sabotage Quiz at https://www.ashleybeaudin.com/quiz

Follow Ashley on Insta at https://www.instagram.com/ashley.beaudin/