In this episode of Dispatched & Dysfunctional, I’m joined by Jimmy Apple — better known online as the EMS Avenger. If you’ve ever watched his content and thought, “Finally… someone bringing receipts,” you already get why this conversation matters.

Jimmy isn’t here to perform or sell a brand. He’s a pediatric and neonatal critical care paramedic with 20 years of 911 experience, and he talks straight about the stuff most people in EMS avoid: how burnout actually starts, why empathy is the first thing to die, and what “asking for help” turns into inside systems that punish honesty.

We get into:

Why “I’m just tired” is often denial in disguise

The difference between exhaustion and burnout (and why burnout needs a reset, not a nap)

Why EMS culture still treats help like weakness

Pediatric critical care realities: the medicine and the families

Why dark humor stopped being a pressure valve and became a toxic industry

How to speak up before you’re broken — and what to do when you’re already there

This one’s heavy, honest, and needed.

Follow / connect with Jimmy (EMS Avenger):

If you need help right now:

High functioning doesn’t mean you’re okay.

In this episode of Dispatched & Dysfunctional, Chris sits down with Dr. Lance Knaub, a physical therapist turned entrepreneur who works with high-performing professionals in medicine, leadership, and other high-stress careers — the people everyone depends on right up until their body or mind finally says “enough.”

This isn’t a buzzword mental health conversation.

It’s about:

Why “still functioning” is one of the most dangerous places to live

How burnout disguises itself as competence

Why responders and caregivers often don’t realize they’re struggling

How chronic stress shows up physically — digestion, sleep, anger, detachment

When resilience turns into psychological armor

Why white-knuckling the job eventually fails

Lance shares his own story of pushing too hard while running multiple clinics, raising a family, and ignoring the warning signs — until his body shut him down completely. Together, we break down why high performers feel guilt for struggling, why silence is rewarded in our professions, and why waiting for a crisis costs more than people realize.

If you’re still showing up, still dependable, still carrying it quietly — this episode is for you.

The following content may be emotional and includes dark humor that may not be suitable for all listeners. Discretion is advised.

These stories are based on real-life experiences in EMS, healthcare, and high-stress professions. Names and identifying details may be changed to protect privacy.

Any medical or mental health discussion is personal experience — not protocol.

If you’re struggling, don’t do it alone.

Need help right now?

🌐 Website: https://denaliconsultingteam.com

LinkedIn / Instagram / TikTok: @DrLanceKnaub

Burnout isn’t weakness.

And “I’m fine” is often the most dangerous lie we tell ourselves in this job.

You can be strong, capable, and reliable — and still be burning out from the inside.

In this episode of Dispatched & Dysfunctional, Chris sits down with Julie Cyvonne, a former attorney turned high-performance coach, to talk about the quieter side of burnout — the kind that doesn’t come with a breakdown, but with functioning too well for too long.

This is a focused, grounded conversation about identity loss, nervous system burnout, and what happens when your job stops being something you do and starts being who you are. No hype. No “fix yourself” culture. Just honest discussion about why strength becomes a liability when it’s never allowed to rest.

If you’ve ever told yourself, “I’m fine, I just need to get through this next stretch,” this one’s for you.

🧠 WHY IT MATTERS

First responders and high performers are taught to push through — not pause. This episode challenges that mindset without shaming it, offering a grounded conversation about burnout, boundaries, and staying human in systems that reward self-sacrifice.

⚠️ PODCAST DISCLAIMER

The following content is graphic, emotional, and includes dark humor that may not be suitable for all listeners.

These stories are based on real-life EMS and first responder experiences.

Any medical or mental health discussion is personal experience — not protocol.

If you’re struggling, don’t do it alone.

🔗 LINKS

Connect with Julie:

Show Links:

🎧 FINAL HOST NOTE

This episode is shorter by design.

In this episode of Dispatched & Dysfunctional, I’m joined by Jimmy Apple — better known online as the EMS Avenger. If you’ve ever watched his content and thought, “Finally… someone bringing receipts,” you already get why this conversation matters.

Jimmy isn’t here to perform or sell a brand. He’s a pediatric and neonatal critical care paramedic with 20 years of 911 experience, and he talks straight about the stuff most people in EMS avoid: how burnout actually starts, why empathy is the first thing to die, and what “asking for help” turns into inside systems that punish honesty.

We get into:

• Why “I’m just tired” is often denial in disguise
• The difference between exhaustion and burnout (and why burnout needs a reset, not a nap)
• Why EMS culture still treats help like weakness
• Pediatric critical care realities: the medicine and the families
• Why dark humor stopped being a pressure valve and became a toxic industry
• How to speak up before you’re broken — and what to do when you’re already there

This one’s heavy, honest, and needed.

Follow / connect with Jimmy (EMS Avenger):
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/EMS-Avenger-61575840471120/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emsavenger/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emsavenger?lang=en

If you need help right now:
Text or call 988 or visit 988lifeline.org

Jimmy mentioned upcoming conference appearances throughout 2024–2025, including Atlanta, Texas, Arkansas, Chattanooga, Oregon, Western Pennsylvania, Austin, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Sweden, and Orlando.

Stress doesn’t just make you tired — it narrows you.

In this episode of Dispatched & Dysfunctional, Chris sits down with Dr. Andre Walton to talk about tunnel vision, burnout, and what happens when smart, trained people lock onto the wrong thing and miss the real danger.

From a near-miss involving first responders and a train, to the concept of presenteeism — showing up but not actually being there — this conversation digs into how stress shuts down awareness, why burnout spreads through teams, and how leadership blind spots make it worse.

If you’ve ever felt yourself running on autopilot, losing perspective, or shrinking under the weight of the job, this episode puts words to what you’ve been feeling.

Dr. Andre Walton

🔹 Burnout resources & programs:

🔹 Main website:

🔹 Free resource – Business Growth Hacks:

🔹 Speaking / Podcast / Booking:

🔹 Book a conversation:

🔹 TEDx Talk:

🔹 LinkedIn:

Tunnel vision under stress

Burnout and decision fatigue

Presenteeism in high-stress professions

Leadership blind spots

Why awareness fails before people break

These stories are based on real-life EMS, military, and healthcare experiences. Calls are real. Providers are real. Names and details have been changed to protect privacy.

Any medical or mental health discussion is personal experience — not protocol.

If you’re struggling, don’t do it alone.

Burnout doesn’t come from being weak.

It comes from broken systems that reward overextension, punish honesty, and slowly disconnect people from the work they signed up to do.

In this episode of Dispatched & Dysfunctional, I sit down with David Shar — founder of Illuminate PMC and an Industrial–Organizational psychologist — to talk about what burnout actually is, why it spreads through teams like a virus, and why the best people usually burn out first.

We get into:

Why burnout isn’t about workload — it’s about barriers, leadership, and culture

The three real components of burnout: emotional exhaustion, reduced accomplishment, and depersonalization

Why “I’m fine” is often a warning sign

How meaningful work can make people easier to exploit

The difference between being nice and being kind as a leader

Why high performers burn out first: “In order to burn out, you have to be on fire first.”

If you’ve ever clocked out of work and felt like you clocked out of life too — this episode will hit close to home.

Guest: David Shar

Need support right now? Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

A single photo made him famous overnight.

But fame doesn’t treat trauma. It just puts it on display.

Chris Fields was a captain with the Oklahoma City Fire Department when the Murrah Building was bombed. He spent that day doing what we all do — working the problem, moving forward, not stopping to feel anything until the shift is over… except this shift never really ended.

Because the next day the photo went worldwide — and Chris got stuck carrying more than memories. He carried a symbol.

In this episode, we go past the picture and into the parts nobody sees: the guilt that didn’t make sense, the isolation that felt safer than talking, the ways pride and ego keep responders from reaching out, and the moment he hit rock bottom.

This isn’t history class. It’s what trauma looks like when it ages — and what it takes to survive it.

⚠️ Content warning: PTSD, addiction, suicide ideation, and dark first-responder humor.

Need help now? 988.

Burnout is common. Healing is messy. And sometimes the strongest people are the ones silently falling apart.

We dive into her Four Bodies Framework — physical, emotional, mental, spiritual — and talk about why so many helpers struggle to receive help, how childhood patterns show up in adulthood, and what real alignment feels like when you finally return to yourself.

If you’ve been running on fumes… this episode is your sign to stop, breathe, and come back home to yourself.

🔗 Connect with Gabriela:

🎧 About the Show

🧠 Need support right now?

What if stress isn’t the problem—but how you carry it is?

Today’s guest isn’t EMS, but he knows exactly what it feels like when life grabs you by the collar and says, “You’re not okay.”

Phil Barth is a keynote speaker, stress-management strategist, and bestselling author of Fry Your Chickens. After surviving a heart attack, Phil rebuilt his life around intentional stress reduction, humor, and joy—turning rubber chickens into memorable teaching tools and a near-death experience into a mission to help others.

In this episode, Chris and Phil discuss:

• The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? moment that changed how Phil handles stress
• The heart attack that forced him to rethink everything
• What “stress chickens” are and why naming them helps
• Breaking the Facebook doom-scroll stress cycle
• Why humor matters in EMS and other high-stress careers
• Music, memory, and emotional healing
• The “micro-chickens” responders ignore until they become overwhelming
• Why the brain resists positive change
• Finding courage on an ordinary Tuesday
• Using humor as a leader without losing credibility

Phil also shares how writing A Spring to Remember became part of his recovery, reflecting on the symptoms he ignored, the heart attack that happened at camp, and the promise he made to unplug for one week every three months.

Whether you’re burned out, emotionally exhausted, or simply trying to stay afloat, this episode offers practical tools for managing stress before it manages you.

Website: https://philbarth.com/
Blog: https://philbarth.com/from-chickens-to-keynotes-a-spring-to-remember/
Books: Fry Your Chickens, Fry Your Chickens 2.0, International Book of Favorites, Bach, Beethoven & Rubber Chickens
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-barth-38a5902/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phil.barth
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PhilBarth

⚠️ Disclaimer: This podcast contains emotional discussions and dark humor based on real EMS and first responder experiences. Listener discretion is advised. Any medical discussion reflects personal experience, not medical advice. Follow your local protocols and medical direction.

If you’re struggling, don’t face it alone. Call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org.

Share your story or connect with the show at www.critical-run.com or follow Dispatched & Dysfunctional on Facebook.

Dispatched & Dysfunctional — because sometimes the worst calls make the best stories.

Today’s guest is Jennifer Kaufman — principal of a school for students with autism, founder of First Response Autism, and author of Grandparenting on the Spectrum: A Journey from Both Sides of the Desk.

Jennifer trains police, medics, and firefighters to recognize and respond to autism with patience instead of panic — and she’s living it every day as the grandmother of a seven-year-old on the spectrum.

In this episode we talk about:

The reality that 93% of accidental deaths among autistic individuals involve water — and what responders can do about it.

How to recognize autism on-scene vs. intoxication or defiance.

The Blue Envelope Program and Responder Cards — simple tools that save lives.

Communication moves that work: single-word prompts, calm tone, concrete language, and giving time to process.

Why families, dispatch, and crews all have to play on the same team.

It’s practical, raw, and full of takeaways every responder and parent can use right now.

Jennifer Kaufman

Autism • First Responders • EMS • Police Training • Fire • Dispatch • De-escalation • Neurodiversity • Parenting • Grandparents • Community Safety