Retired Fire Chief David Rhodes joins us on the podcast.

David is a 39 year veteran of the fire service retired from the Atlanta Gorgia fire dept. He currently works for Clarion events as the Vice President of Education for Clarion Fire Rescue Brands, he is the Editor in Chief for Fire Engineering Magazine, and the educational director for the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC). He is a Chief Elder for the Gorgia Smoke Divers Program, served on the Fire Department Instructors Conference Executive Advisory Board, was the hands on training coordinator at the FDIC Conference, and author for Fire Engineering Magazine and Fire Apparatus and Equipment Magazine. Chief Rhodes has served as an adjunct instructor for the Gorgia Fire Academy, and is an advisory board member emeritus for Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Research Institute , and current board member of the Firefighter Air Coalition. He has served as an incident commander for the Gorgia Emergency Management Agency, Type 3 all Hazards Incident Management Team, and was a task force leader for the Gorgia Search and Rescue Team.

Chief Rhodes discusses his career, shares his knowledge, experience, and thoughts on the importance of educating and training first responders about the hazards and impacts of interacting with trauma. 

Our guest on todays podcast is Marchelle Farmer

In September of 2023, at the age of 57, Marchelle met the love of her life, Scott Farmer. They both knew right away that what they had was special, and were married in February of 2024 - on Scott's 57th birthday. 

By May of 2025 Marchelle was making funeral arrangements. 

Her husband, retired K-9 Sergeant Scott Farmer, after 25 years of service and 3 years of retirement  - lost his internal battles with PTS.  Scott died by suicide in the early morning of May 16, 2025.  

Just the afternoon before Scott had told Marchelle -  "You're going to be fine. They like you there." Maybe he was encouraging her about her fairly new job, or maybe he meant something else. A little over a year later, Marchelle is not fine. She struggles regularly. 

Gradually, and with much effort she is learning her way out of the dark pit of trauma and grief that she was thrown into  following Scott's suicide. 

During her own healing process -  Marchelle recognized that suicide did not process Scott's trauma or heal his pain. His trauma and pain was mutated and transferred to her. While pursuing her own healing, she chooses to honor the amazing, beautiful man, officer, friend and husband - - known simply as Farmer - by sharing their story, with the hope that others will be motivated to seek their own healing.

Charlie's work in Critical Incident Stress Management began around the time of its inception, he then started on the Boston fire metro team in 1998, he has provided CISM and peer support throughout the northeast united states, and he is currently the co-coordinator of the statewide peer support network here in the commonwealth.   

In this episode - Charlie speaks openly about mistakes he made throughout his career in the fire service – including the amount of hours that he worked for years on end – he shared this message and many others in order to help the next generation of first responders avoid some of the mistakes in their careers that he made in his own. Additionally – Charlie spoke about some of his own critical incidents – he spoke about structure fires, including one that resulted in a fatality early on in his career – the cultural response to that in those days, which was to drink until you felt better – he spoke openly about how those incidents affected him, how something inside him demanded that there must be a better way to manage critical incident stress – and how as the years went on Charlie came to realize that it is oftentimes the constant grind of duty, response, responsibility, and how we respond internally to those and other components of the job that takes the largest toll on our emergency responders.

Currently - Charlie works as a clinician at On Site Academy – an organization we hold in the highest regard – and consider as the gold standard of treatment for first responders.

Elizabeth Bartholomew joins us on the podcast. 

Liz worked as a police records clerk in Batavia Illinois  where she met Joe Bartholomew, a paid on-call firefighter, they married in 1980.  Joe was hired as a full time Firefighter in 1986.  While their daughters were young Liz was able to be a stay at home mom.  Later she drove a school bus part-time in Naperville, Illinois, became Band Booster President and was on the coaching staff at East Aurora High School.    In 2005 Joe was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder from a response call, he later retired on a duty disability pension after 33 years as a firefighter.  Seeing the reaction in the workplace to his PTSD diagnosis and watching him learn to live with PTSD she came up with the concept of Responders Retreat as a place to open a conversation and know that you are not alone. 

Mike Peterson returns to the podcast - He is a Veteran, a federal LEO, and a mindfulness expert who also works in the First Responder Mental Health Field. Mike shares his story with raw, unflinching, honesty – he speaks about his own pathway into service, his military deployments, the hardship and loss he and his fellow soldiers endured – how he reacted to those difficult stressors in real time, and the impact those events had on him in the long term. Mike also shares about his career in law enforcement, how eventually he began leaning into the bottle and relying on booze to avoid the mounting pressures, developed discomfort, irritability, and behavior changes often associated with years of service.  

Mike explains that he came to recognize a struggle within himself, shares what led him to begin addressing those issues, and how he now helps others to do their own work.

He also talks about mindfulness, and suggests that we all could benefit from learning how to better engage with our thinking brain, from breathing with intention, from applying logic to stressors that want to activate us in ways that cause emotional reactions, rather than critical thought, problem solving, resolution of internal discomfort, and forward movement.

To learn more about Mike check out New England Mindfulness and Performance.

Erin Lynch is a Suicide Loss Survivor. She lost her father Eddie Lynch, a 35 year Boston Firefighter to Suicide in 2014. Erin shares what it was like being raised by a firefighter, she discusses the dynamics of her family, speaks openly about the day that her father passed, the days, weeks, months, and years that followed.

She talks about the initial shock and turmoil, she describes the weight of her grief and how she was impacted by it, and explains how she was able to heal, move forward from that loss, and how she now uses the experience to help others. 

Brianna McCarty joins us on the podcast and shares how she was inspired by a family legacy in law enforcement, which led her to pursuing a career in policing where she gained firsthand experience in the realities and challenges of the profession.Brianna not only talks about her career in law enforcement, she talks about the calls she responded to that stayed with her, the ones that impacted her, and caused disruption in her life; personally and professionally. Today Brianna is a certified peer support advocate with a passion for improving mental health awareness within the first responder community. Although her time in law enforcement was cut short, it was deeply impactful and continues to shape her work today. Brianna now focuses on supporting first responders through peer support initiatives, open dialogue, and advocacy efforts aimed at reducing stigma and strengthening resilience. She is also the host of a podcast dedicated to sharing real stories from first responders, as well as a virtual peer support group that provides a space for connection, understanding, and conversation around the unique challenges of the job.

Chief Michael Assad joins the podcast and shares with us about his career in law enforcement and some of the mental health challenges he has faced himself throughout that career. He talks about the importance of prioritizing family, not just for himself but for his officers as well. Chief Assad also explains the specific steps he has taken to implement a culture of wellness within his department, how he incentivizes exercise and fitness, and the importance of being open and responsive to the comments, feedback and suggestions of his department members.

Scott & Lorena Bergan return to the podcast and join us for a follow up. They share a story about Compassion, Love, the Desire to Help others - Family and Loss. They describe their daughter Kaitlin and how she lived, the passion she had for life, her motivated and enthusiastic approach to entering the fire service, her love of the job, along with the grief they experienced when she died by suicide. The Bergan's also update us about the work they are doing at the first responder non-profit they started in their daughters name - Kaitlin's Heart for Hero's.

Mark DiBona is a retired police officer & current technical advisor & mental health liaison for "Protecting the Guardian" - An organization that aims to create, promote, and maintain the health and wellness of law enforcement officers.

Mark joins us on the podcast & speaks openly about his own experiences with duty trauma, childhood abuse, suicide, faith, and healing.