Empowering Responders: Helping Responders To Bend, Not Break

This episode shares the story of Dr. Pruden, an Emergency Medicine Physician and Director of Emergency Preparedness at St Joseph's Hospital in Paterson, NJ. Following his COVID diagnosis and a month-long hospital stay, Dr. Pruden was featured widely on broadcast media including the TODAY show. Dr. Pruden joins the podcast to recount his personal story of perseverance and resilience, along with the powerful coping tools which aided in his recovery.

This episode focuses on team cohesion during a crisis and the importance of peer support to get through difficult workplace experiences. Featuring 30 year NJ fire veterans, Jim Boyle, Battalion Chief, Millburn Fire Department, and Bruce Pollack, Captain, Millburn Fire Department.

This episode focuses on the concept of 'Residue', which builds up in individuals who have had extreme experiences in their line of work, and has the potential to either bring people down or motivate and strengthen them if processed properly. Featuring Dr. Preston Cline, Cofounder and Director of Research and Education at the Mission Critical Team Institute (MCTI). interviewed conducted by Dr. Jim Sheehan, a NJ law enforcement veteran, former deputy chief, and current program manager at NJ-UASI.

This episode focuses on the concept of 'Hero Fatigue', or the exhaustion that often arises from societal views as a hero, and the unintended negative consequences, such as forgetting self-care and the need to always "do more". Returning are 30 year NJ fire veterans, Jim Boyle, Battalion Chief, Millburn Fire Department, and Bruce Pollack, Captain, Millburn Fire Department.

This episode focuses on defining anxiety and stress. Tips and tools are shared to assist with building resilience to help manage situations involving anxiety and stress. This podcast features Dave Cooper, Founder of Verge Coaching/Consulting Company and Mike Biller, President and Chief Operating Officer of Tomahawk Strategic Solutions.

This episode focuses on the importance of social connections. This podcast features Dr. Nicholas Epley, the John Templeton Keller Professor of Behavior Science and Director of the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Dr. Epley studies social cognition—how thinking people think about other thinking people—to understand why smart people so routinely misunderstand each other. His research has appeared in more than two dozen empirical journals, has been featured by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Wired, and National Public Radio, among many others, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Templeton Foundation.

This episode focuses on Hurricane Katrina and the lessons learned from the emergency management response to the disaster. This podcast features the President of LPP Consulting, Phil Parr. Mr. Parr served as a Battalion Chief in the FDNY and as a Federal Coordinating Officer for FEMA, leading national responses to almost 40 emergency situations across 19 states and territories, including the response to Hurricane Katrina. Bayonne Fire Department Special Operations Battalion Chief, Rob Seeburger, interviews Mr. Parr.

This episode focuses on adjusting to the new normal. This podcast features Holy Name Medical Center's Vice President of Nursing and Director of Education, Cedar Wang, as well as Ben Mazza, who is the Manager of Holy Name's Emergency Preparedness Unit. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cedar and Ben each handled many different facets of Holy Name Medical Center's response including emergency construction projects, out-patient testing and telemedicine services.

This episode focuses on Superstorm Sandy with first-hand accounts from first responders who held leadership positions during reponse to the event. This podcast features the Director of the Jersey City Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, Greg Kierce. Greg is interviewed by Matt Ziemkiewicz, who is the Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator with the Bergen County Office of Emergency Management in northern New Jersey.