Many of us will have sat through an interview, promotion board or similar and thought "who put this together". Despite best intentions some of them are a shambles with very little consistency and not driven by data or experience. It might be the first time that person has ever interviewed anyone and has had 30 minutes of training on how to mark the "tick sheet".

These things are also resource heavy, time consuming and expensive and getting this wrong causes disengagement, damage to moral, grievances and at worst great people not joining or progressing in the sector. So how to get the best people in the right roles in the fire service. Occupational Psychologist Hannah Valance gives us insight, clarity and data from her long career of study and real world application of these skills.

You can reach Hannah HERE
or find out more about her company and the work they do HERE

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

PODCAST GIFT - Get your FREE subscription to essential Firefighting publications HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
TUFFKING
GRENADE
RIP INTO
Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

Gerard Devine is an award-winning Irish poet who lives a life less ordinary.
The former carpenter is a full-time firefighter in Dublin City.

Prior to joining the fire brigade, Gerard spent many years working on the building sites of Dublin, Boston and San Francisco. He still plies his building skills by volunteering to work in third-world countries such as Africa. An animal and nature lover Gerard recently moved up into the inspiring Wicklow mountains where he lives in harmony with nature with wife Stephanie and their rescue dog Saoirse.

While his favourite poet is the wonderful WB Yeats much of Gerard’s poetry is inspired by Irish ballads and singers like Shane McGowan and Christy Moore.

Gerard’s poetry is now being studied there which is a great honour to the Dublin native.

You can find Gerard at his:
Website
Instagram

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

PODCAST GIFT - Get your FREE subscription to essential Firefighting publications HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
TUFFKING
GRENADE
RIP INTO
Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

Fire station gyms are typically small and with limited kit and space you want to maximise your time, resource, budget & equipment choice, this is where TRX come in. The smartest gym is the one you already own — your body. TRX powers it by making everything else around it as challenging as you need it. Things like balance, power, stability, functionality & time under tension — everything a first responder needs to do get strong, get fast, move better than ever before not just ow but for your whole career and beyond.

today im speaking with Jack Daly - CEO, Nathan D' Rozario - International Education & Training Manager & Marvin Burton - Sales & Customer Experience EMEA

Find out more about TRX HERE
Contact Nathan for info on UK products and purchases at [email protected]

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

PODCAST GIFT - Get your FREE subscription to essential Firefighting publications HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
TUFFKING
GRENADE
RIP INTO
Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

Helena Brown is a UK Firefighter who in 2023 burst on the scene of the firefighter challenge community winning the British firefighter challenge. She then joined in in Saudi Arabia winning more medals at the toughest firefighter alive in 2024. She will be returning to the Firefighter challenge circuit this year and today she shares her experience of joining the fire service and growing herself confidence and self belief whist putting herself around other high performers to help her grow and develop personally and professionally.

Helena is an inspiring example of our great firefighters in the UK fire service and you can connect with her HERE. She will also be in attendance with myself at Women In Fire annual development event as well as The British Firefighter Challenge in July of 2024.

Find out more about the firefighter challenge community in the UK at
The Welsh Firefighter Challenge
The British Firefighter Challenge
The Cheshire Firefighter Challenge

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

PODCAST GIFT - Get your FREE subscription to essential Firefighting publications HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
TUFFKING
GRENADE
RIP INTO
Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

Liz McConaghy was the longest serving female crewman on the Royal Air Force Chinook Fleet spanning a 17 year career flying on the aircraft. 

  Originally from a small town in Northern Ireland she attended RAF Cranwell on her 19th birthday to begin her exciting career thereafter on Chinook Helicopters.
She was the youngest aircrew to deploy to Iraq aged just 21 and also the only female crewman on the Chinook wing for 4 years, so her story is completely unique. 

Her career saw her amass 2 deployments to Iraq and 10 deployments to Helmand Afghanistan in support of Operation Herrick which gave her an insightful and very personal perspective on war. Upon leaving the RAF in 2019 Liz slowly became unravelled after a series of traumatic events that compounded her PTSD. This led to her trying to end her life in Aug 2020.

You can connect with Liz below
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
TWITTER/X

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

PODCAST GIFT - Get your FREE subscription to essential Firefighting publications HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
TUFFKING
GRENADE
RIP INTO
Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

Are all Firefighters Bullies. If you were to read the papers each week you may well hold this view but like so many things in life its a very small number that can build a bad stereotype of a group of individuals that I feel very proud to be part of.

However there is no smoke without fire so clearly some people are not having a very positive experience in the fire & rescue service and today we want to develop an understanding of how we can better understand the world of Bullying & Harassment with a view to begin to move forward with a healthier, more positive and safe workplace culture where high performers can grow and develop.

My guest today Dr Jason Price is an Independent specialist in workplace culture, bullying and complaint management. You can get guidance, support for your organisation of for yourself personally including insight into professional standards & complaint management by reaching him HERE

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

PODCAST GIFT - Get your FREE subscription to essential Firefighting publications HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
TUFFKING
GRENADE
RIP INTO
Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon C

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

Carla Morrison is a serving firefighter from Canada who during a routine Health screening discovered she has dramatically reduced hearing on one side. This discovery lead to further testing which showed a large brain tumour which threatened her career, her home life and possibly her life.

Also on the podcast today is Bradley Dicks also from Canada & Kyle Keighery a serving firefighter from Australia

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

PODCAST GIFT - Get your FREE subscription to essential Firefighting publications HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
TUFFKING
GRENADE
RIP INTO
Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

Bronte Jones is a UK firefighter, weightlifter & contender on UK's GLADIATORS where she made it the finals. Gladiators is a sports entertainment TV show & one of the most defining game shows of the 90's in the UK, as well as across the globe. Athletic members of the public battle as Contenders against the shows very own mighty Gladiators to earn points in an array of events that tests their speed, strength, stamina and skill.

You can find Bronte on social media HERE

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
GRENADE
RIP INTO

Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life, health and longevity and yet it is increasingly neglected in 21st century society, with devastating consequences: every major disease in the developed world - Alzheimer's, cancer, obesity, diabetes - has very strong causal links to deficient sleep.

Based on the Journal of Global Health, first responders are as much as three times more likely to suffer from insomnia than non-shift workers & a Recent UClan document stating 61% of firefighters have sleep problems.

My guest today is Dan Evison a Father of 3, a Firefighter (Watch Manager) of 22 years & now (since 2021) an adult sleep coach & consultant.

Contact Dave at [email protected]
Deeper dive & Help available at his website HERE
Read/Audio book "Why We Sleep by Mathew Walker" HERE
Cleveland Clinic study HERE
Mental health of UK firefighters | Scientific Reports (nature.com)
Common Sleep Disorders Increase Risk of Motor Vehicle Crashes and Adverse Health Outcomes in Firefighters | Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (aasm.org)
Association between sleep quality and type of shift work in Korean firefighters - PMC (nih.gov)
Implementing a Sleep Health Education and Sleep Disorders Screening Program in Fire Departments - PMC (nih.gov)

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
GRENADE

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

My Guest today is Eduardo Martins from the Brazilian Fire Service. In 2024 The Podcast's very own Pete & Sarah competed in the SAUDI ARAMCO CHALLENGE Toughest Firefighter Alive as athletes for the UK team. Over the course of the competition we caught up with a few of the 317 athletes from over 29 countries where we caught up with Eduardo & Others.

connect with Martins HERE

We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY with every episode ever made & also get access to every Debrief & Subject Matter expert document shard with us then join our PATREON crew and support the future of the podcast by clicking HERE

A big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.
GORE-TEX Professional Clothing
MSA The Safety Company
HAIX Footwear
GRENADE
RIP INTO

Lyfe Linez -  Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar  for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and  for firefighters this cost lives, worsens our long term health and reduces cognitive ability.

Send us a text

Support the show

***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.***

Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew