Firefighter Nation Podcast

In this episode, Hosts John Velez and Preston Lyons invite Blake Stinnett onto the show to discuss Next Rung, the charity he founded with the mission to help combat the mental health issues among Firefighters and First Responders.

David Dachinger talks with Dr. Tracy S. Hejmanowski who is a licensed clinical psychologist with 24 years of expertise focused on occupational stress and trauma among first responders and military communities. She served as an active duty and contracted Navy psychologist for 19 years and is the founder of First Responder Project, running retreats for 13 years. She is an IAFF-trained Red/Blue Line Rescue provider. In this episode, Dr. Tracy Hejmanowski discusses the essential practice of resetting and recalibrating for firefighters. She highlights the risk of losing compassion and judgment without periodic self-care, which can lead to numbness or reckless behavior. Tracy's First Responder Project runs restorative retreats for first responders and their spouses, emphasizing the need to decompress and reconnect. These retreats allow individuals to be human, learn from one another, and benefit from nature and team-building. She stresses the necessity of taking time for healing to ensure firefighters can sustain their crucial work while maintaining healthy relationships.

This month on The 85 Percent, the podcast dedicated to volunteer and combination departments, join guest Chief Brandon Fletcher from the Guilt Edge (TN) Fire Department. He discusses leadership, his history in the fire service, and how he approaches creating and maintaining a great culture in his department.

Ali Rothrock discusses the power of staying connected by looking at the lives of first responders, military personnel, and her own experiences.

This episode features retired Sergeant Michael Sugrue.  On this episode we discuss Michael’s law enforcement career, the scene in which he saved a couple who being attacked by a man welding a knife, PTSD, childhood trauma, Save A Warrior, Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB), and his book “Relentless Courage: Winning the Battle Against Frontline Trauma” with Doc Springer. Save A Warrior: https://saveawarrior.org Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB): https://stellacenter.com Mission 22: https://mission22.com West Coast Post-Trauma Retreat: https://www.frsn.org/west-coast-post-trauma-retreat.html Brothers Helping Brothers Conference: https://events.brothershelpingbrothers.org/ffhw2025/ More about Michael: Michael Sugrue began his law enforcement career in the United States Air Force as a Security Forces Officer in 1998. As a Security Forces Officer, Michael specialized in Law Enforcement, Global Force Protection, Anti-Terrorism, Nuclear Security, Foreign Air Field Assessments and Air Base Ground Defense. Michael served in a variety of assignments including: Flight Leader, Flight Commander, Senior Watch Officer, Chief of Command Post and Chief of Security Forces. Michael served all over the United States, Europe, the Middle East and South America. He was also a Security Forces Phoenix Raven with the unique identifier of #1173. Michael honorably separated from the Air Force as a Captain in 2004. Immediately after the Air Force, Michael was hired by the Walnut Creek Police Department where he served in a variety of assignments including: Patrol Officer, Driver Training Instructor (EVOC) Field Training Officer (FTO), SIU Detective, Undercover CA DOJ Narcotic Task Force Agent (Contra Costa County), Public Information Officer (PIO) and Patrol Sergeant. Michael was awarded the Walnut Creek PD Distinguished Service Medal in 2014 for his heroic and life saving actions during a Fatal Officer Involved Shooting in 2012. Michael ultimately medically retired in 2018. He is now a Peer Volunteer at the West Coast Post Trauma Retreat (WCPR) and an Ambassador for Save A Warrior (SAW). Michael is a dedicated advocate for awareness, prevention, education, training on Post Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI) and First Responder Suicide Prevention. Michael continues to speak at law enforcement agencies all over the United States. In his International #1 BEST-SELLING book, RELENTLESS COURAGE: Winning the Battle Against Frontline Trauma, along with Dr. Shauna Springer, PhD, they tackle the complexity of trauma within the law enforcement community, uncovering the unspoken barriers, and outline a path to healing. RELENTLESS COURAGE released in Spring 2022 and has been described by Lt. Col. David Grossman, best-selling author of On Killing and On Combat as “one of the most important books of our time” and “the natural successor to On Combat.”

In this episode, Hosts John Velez and Preston Lyons discuss recruitment and retention, how social media can be a tool in this endeavor as well as how you treat the probie can affect your retention efforts.

Dan Degryse and Chris Muscle talk with Stephen Hooper about his firefighter journey of traumatic exposure. They talk about his rock-bottom and subsequent post-traumatic growth.

In this Inaugural episode, the founders of Next Rung talk about the history of their company, how it is actively helping the fire service and what they hope the future holds.

In the inaugural episode of Igniting the Shift Within, host David Dachinger talks with Johnny Torgeson about Forging your team.  They discuss his journey, and wrap up with three take-aways.

n the inaugural episode of The Resilient Responder, Host Ali Rothrock discusses the story of the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting and invites Aubrey Underwood on, who was a dispatcher during the event. Wikipedia. 2017 Las Vegas Shooting. October, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Q-_UFK-u8 https://abc7.com/las-vegas-mass-shooting-route-91-music-festival-ucla-medal-of-valor/2809406/ https://www.jems.com/operations/ems-response-to-the-mass-shooting-at-the-route-91-harvest-festival-in-las-vegas/ After Trauma by Ali W. Rothrock After Trauma on Audible www.aliwrothrock.com www.onthejobandoff.com