Mental toughness is always a focus for emergency responders. How do you build more of it? How can you be more resilient in response to the demands of the job? What are the principles that lead to healthy, happy and strong people both on and off the job?

This week's Firefighter Craftsmanship podcast dives into the psychological theory of self efficacy and how you can use it to catapult not only your mental resilience but also build high performing teams using its frameworks.

In this episode we cover:

• What is Self efficacy and why does it matter
• The 5 components of self efficacy and how to use them as a framework
• How you can empower yourself through self efficacy and reap the benefits at work and at home

References:

Lambert, J. E., Benight, C. C., Harrison, E., & Cieslak, R. (2012). The Firefighter Coping Self-Efficacy Scale: measure development and validation. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 25(1), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.567328

Lyons, P., & Bandura, R. (2019). Self-efficacy: core of employee success. Development and Learning in Organizations, 33(3), 9–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-04-2018-0045

Regehr, C., Hill, J., Knott, T., & Sault, B. (2003). Social support, self-efficacy and trauma in new recruits and experienced firefighters. Stress and Health, 19(4), 189–193. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.974

Other resources (some of these are affiliate links!):

XTI is offering all of you a 15% off discount for any of their products! Just enter Firefighter15 at checkout for the discount!

XTI.US Homepage

There's a lot of information out there about sleep! As an emergency responder it is tough to figure out how it all applies to you and your specific situation. Especially if you work shifts.

This week's Firefighter Craftsmanship podcast features Dr. Mark Petrun a longtime pulmonologist with a specialty in sleep medicine who's been involved in the sleep conversation since the early 1980's! Along with having many shift working emergency responder patients over the years, Dr. Petrun's son is an engineer for a career fire department so he personally understands the impact of the occupation, the shift schedule impact and the importance of sleep for emergency response.

In this episode we cover:

• Why naps are so important and the cultures that prevent them from occuring
• The impact of sleep deprivation on cardiac disease, chroninc disease, and cancer
• How you can empower yourself and use simple routines to maximize your sleep efficiency and effectiveness

XTI is offering all of you a 15% off discount for any of their products! Just enter Firefighter15 at checkout for the discount!

Other resources we speak about in this episode (Some of these are affiliate Links):

XTI.US Homepage

Hansen, J., & Stevens, R. G. (2012). Case–control study of shift-work and breast cancer risk in Danish nurses: Impact of shift systems. European Journal of Cancer (1990), 48(11), 1722–1729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2011.07.005

Paksarian, D., Rudolph, K. E., He, J.-P., & Merikangas, K. R. (2015). School Start Time and Adolescent Sleep Patterns: Results From the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey--Adolescent Supplement. American Journal of Public Health (1971), 105(7), 1351–1357. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302619

We hear a lot about how technology negatively impacts our performance and sleep. Especially blue light from screens before bedtime. Is there a way that we can we use technology to tap into our biology, physiology and psychology to help us become ultimate performers?

This week's Firefighter Craftsmanship podcast features Jason Suntych from XTI and he and his team are doing some tremendous work using PAWS (Pulse Alternating Wavelength System) technology to help you as a first responder get healthy, stay healthy and be healthy for the longterm.

In this episode we cover:

• How most of us are light malnourished and why this findings is extremely important for you
• Why inflammatory and neurological disease might be tied to light exposure in our homes and places of work
• How XTI is bridging the gap between technology and human biology to help you become and stay an ultimate performer both at work and at home

XTI is offering all of you a 15% off discount for any of their products! Just enter Firefighter15 at checkout for the discount!

Other resources we speak about in this episode (Some of these are affiliate Links):

XTI.US Homepage

Firefighter Craftsmanship Podcast Episode 6: How to Empower Your People to Be Mentally Tough and Mentally Fit- Featuring Fire Chief Mike West

Are you aware of the foundational basics of sleep and how a simple understanding of things like the 4 sleep cycles can impact your overall human performance as an emergency responder?

This week's Firefighter Craftsmanship podcast talks dives into an easy to digest foundation of the basics!

In this episode we cover:

• the 4 Sleep cycles and Why it's important we understand them
• How does alcohol play into sleep and does it actually help you sleep better?
• Why becoming aware of your routines related to sleep is paramount to your performance

Are you sleeping a full 7-9 hours a night (probably when you’re not on shift if you’re a firefighter) but still waking up feeling less than refreshed?

Do you toss and turn at night, or wake up with a dry mouth every time? Have you ever gotten smacked because you snore?

This week's Firefighter Craftsmanship podcast talks about a possible intervention using a small piece of tape that might be a game changer for your rest and recovery both on and off the job

In this episode we cover:

• Mouth tape? Are you actually kidding me?
• Where did this come from and is there any actual value to it?
• Why consulting with your primary care physician is a smart move to level up your performance

Resources Mentioned: Some Might be Affiliate Links

Jaws: The Hidden Epidemic by Sandra Kahn and Paul Ehrlich​

​Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor​

​The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeon​

​3M Micropore Tape

Studies Referenced in this episode:

Blum, D. (2022/11/17/). Can a Piece of Tape Help You Sleep?: Scam or Not. New York Times Company.

Ehrlich, P. R., & Kahn, S. (2018). Disorders of Breathing and Sleep. In Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic (pp. 73–88). Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503606463-009

Lee, Y.-C., Lu, C.-T., Cheng, W.-N., & Li, H.-Y. (2022). The Impact of Mouth-Taping in Mouth-Breathers with Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Preliminary Study. Healthcare (Basel), 10(9), 1755-. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10091755

Sullivan, J. P., O'Brien, C. S., Barger, L. K., Rajaratnam, S. M., Czeisler, C. A., Lockley, S. W., & Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group (2017). Randomized, Prospective Study of the Impact of a Sleep Health Program on Firefighter Injury and Disability. Sleep, 40(1), zsw001. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsw001

https://www.jems.com/product-announcements/relief-firefighters-sleep-apne/#:~:text=The%20report%20found%20that%202,malady%20has%20historically%20gone%20undiagnosed.

Ever have a hard time winding down and falling asleep when at home? How about when you're at work and run a late night call or calls and just can't fall back asleep? Yea...Me too! But I have found a practice that has really helped not only my sleep but literally hundreds of other emergency responders. And the best part is it costs $0.

Resources mentioned in this episode:​

​Episode 16: Reframing Performance, Neuro Nidra, and Connection for Success with Emily Hightower​

​Episode 31: Resilience Training Using Yoga with Olivia Mead-YFFR​

​Presilience For the Emergency Scene: Firefighter Craftsmanship​

​Free Audio Yoga Nidra Scripts to Follow:

​Spotify Yoga Nidra Album (Many different times available here)​

​Dr. Huberman Non Sleep Deep Rest​

​Studies Referenced in this episode:

Moszeik, E. N., von Oertzen, T., & Renner, K.-H. (2022). Effectiveness of a short Yoga Nidra meditation on stress, sleep, and well-being in a large and diverse sample. Current Psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.), 41(8), 5272–5286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01042-2

Sharpe, E., Butler, M. P., Clark-Stone, J., Soltanzadeh, R., Jindal, R., Hanes, D., & Bradley, R. (2023). A closer look at yoga nidra- early randomized sleep lab investigations. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 166, 111169–111169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111169

Resilience to the stressors of the job as a first responder can be tough. But so can the stressors of just being a human. Some of this stress is good and our reactions to it are a completely natural and appropriate response from our autonomic nervous system. Other stressors can be a detriment to our overall performance both at work and off duty.

This week's Firefighter Craftsmanship podcast features Olivia Mead from Yoga For First Responders and she brings a unique approach to that thing called "Yoga" and really challenges the stigma that sometimes can surround this thousands of years old practice. If you scoff at the word Yoga then this conversation is 100% for you! Oh, and she has peer reviewed published research to back it up....

In this episode we cover:

• What the heck is Yoga at its core and do we have to wear yoga pants?
• What cognitive reappraisal is and why it can work for you or against you
• Two separate studies that show Yoga can prevent PTSD, make you more resilient and more adaptable

Other resources we speak about in this episode:

Yoga For First Responders On Air Podcast featuring Firefighter Craftsmanships Kevin Housley

Yoga Resilience Training Peer Reviewed Study

A quick article from Olivia Mead about this study that is free to read

2020 Study that was conducted using virtual training and showed positive effects

Yoga For First Responders Online Course

Check out the great work Olivia is doing over at Yoga For First Responders!

Firefighters work in environments that require the use of a finite air supply through their SCBA. Being efficient, conditioned, and resilient to all kinds of factors is extremely important for a host of reasons but one is due to this limited air supply. This is one reason why CO2 tolerance is so important but it's certainly not exclusive to firefighters! CO2 tolerance is equated to tolerance to stress overall. Check out this weeks Firefighter Craftsmanship Podcast episode that dives into a working understanding of CO2 tolerance, why we should care about it, how it works internally and how we can easily train it.

In this episode we cover:

• What is the Bohr cycle and why is it important?
• How can we be a more efficient "machine" especially if we have a finite air supply
• A simple and easy to implement CO2 tolerance training strategy that will pay dividends

Resources mentioned in this episode (Some of these are affiliate links):

Shiftadapt.com

Balban, M. Y., Neri, E., Kogon, M. M., Weed, L., Nouriani, B., Jo, B., Holl, G., Zeitzer, J. M., Spiegel, D., & Huberman, A. D. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell reports. Medicine, 4(1), 100895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895

Savulich, G., Hezemans, F. H., van Ghesel Grothe, S., Dafflon, J., Schulten, N., Brühl, A. B., Sahakian, B. J., & Robbins, T. W. (2019). Acute anxiety and autonomic arousal induced by CO2 inhalation impairs prefrontal executive functions in healthy humans. Translational psychiatry, 9(1), 296. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-019-0634-z

​Presilience For the Emergency Scene: Firefighter Craftsmanship​

Planning firefighter training can be really tough. Keeping the crew and yourself engaged is sometimes a struggle and it’s easier at times just to wing it. However, winging it usually leads to unfocused actions and just doing the same thing over an over.

Is there a concept out there that we can use to develop and plan relevant, useful and fun training?!

In this episode we cover:

• What is Periodization and how can we apply it to basic skills training?
• The three main components of periodization and how to apply them
• Free downloadable template- 12 months of basic skills training calendar

Resources we speak about in this episode:

Lorenz, D., & Morrison, S. (2015). CURRENT CONCEPTS IN PERIODIZATION OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING FOR THE SPORTS PHYSICAL THERAPIST. International journal of sports physical therapy, 10(6), 734–747.

Presilience for the Emergency Scene Virtual Class

Have you ever felt completely overextended in work or your personal life? How much of this was because of choices or opportunities that were presented to you that may seem great at the beginning but in time proved to not meet your intended goals or outcomes?

This week's Firefighter Craftsmanship podcast we dive back into the fantastic Jim Collins book titled Good to Great and specifically look a the Hedgehog concept.

In this episode we cover:

• What is the Hedgehog concept and why is it filled with sound advice?
• Things we can do at our level to define and hone our hedgehog concept
• How to build personal wins using the hedgehog concept and how it can benefit all areas of our lives

Other resources we speak about in this episode:

Firefighter Craftsmanship Podcast Episodes:

#12 Do You Have Expectations of Yourself and How Do You Communicate Them?

#07 Your Stress is Affecting Those Around You

#02 Allostatic Load and Your Crews' Impact on It

Presilience for the Emergency Scene Virtual Class