Responder Resilience

The response to Ground Zero didn't end in 2001. For the FDNY, it became a 25 year path through recovery, transformation, and choices most agencies will never have to make.5 Fewer than 600 of the 11,500 FDNY firefighters who were at the World Trade Center on September 11 remain on the job. In addition to the 343 members lost on 9/11, more than 400 additional members have since died from World Trade Center related illnesses.

In this episode of Responder Resilience, retired FDNY Captain Paul Brown and executive coach Andre Kotzé join hosts Lt. David Dachinger (Ret.) to discuss their new book, Rising from Ground Zero: 9/11 and the FDNY's Path Through Crisis and Transformation. Built from 90 hours of raw testimony, the book documents the day of the collapse, the recovery, and the institutional transformation that followed, co-authored with Dr. Gregory P. Shea and Lauren Starkey.

Paul, a third-generation FDNY firefighter, and Andre, a former mountain rescue operator and organizational development expert, discuss what it took to rebuild command, culture, and mental health support inside the busiest fire department in the world, and why they believe institutions can experience their own version of post-traumatic growth.

The authors have committed 51% of the book's net profits to charities supporting FDNY members and their families.

**Resources for Responder Wellness:**

• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr

Learn more about the book: https://www.risingfromgroundzero.org/
André Kotzé:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-kotze-b38a3617b/
Paul Brown:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-brown-54079b124/

Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/

Terry Hastings didn't set out to become New York State's first Chief Wellness Officer. He built the case for the role one needs assessment, one training module, one hard conversation at a time.

He partnered with the Institute for Disaster Mental Health and the Benjamin Center at SUNY New Paltz to survey over 6,000 first responders statewide, the first assessment of its kind in New York. What they found: 16% reported suicidal ideation, four times the general population. Among dispatchers, it was 21%.

Now Terry's leveraging that data to lead the largest state-level wellness effort in the country.

In this episode, Terry breaks down:

• Why dispatchers reported the highest rates of suicidal ideation at 21%
• The gap in culturally competent mental health care and what New York is doing to close it
• Why Brazilian jiu-jitsu became central to his own wellness practice, and the new course he's launching for public safety professionals
• What a Wellness Officer Roundtable actually accomplishes

Guest: Terry Hastings, Chief Wellness Officer, New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

Hosted by Lt. David Dachinger (Ret.), Dr. Stacy Raymond, and Bonnie Rumilly, LCSW/EMT

**Resources for Responder Wellness:**

• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr

Contact Terry Hastings:
Website: https://www.dhses.ny.gov/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terry.hastings.12
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-hastings-8686b215/

Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/

The injury gets treated. The claim gets filed. The responder gets lost in between.

Retired Battalion Chief David Picone spent years inside a system that's supposed to cover everything: prevention, behavioral health, cancer, rehab, the claim itself,  and watched it fail at the seams. So he rebuilt it. Thirty-four integrated policies. Injury rates down. A wellness center built like a Division I athletic program. Now, as CEO of the Health & Safety Leadership Alliance, he's taking that blueprint national.

Dr. Ramsey Ali sees what happens when the system fails. As Director of the First Responder Institute and PTSD IOP at Institutes of Health, he treats the complex cases: PTSD tangled with chronic pain and substance use, that siloed care left behind.

One built the system. One treats its casualties. In this episode, they expose where first responder wellness actually breaks down and what it takes to fix it at the system level, not just at the individual level.

In this episode:

• Where individual resilience ends, and organizational failure begins
• What workers' comp gets wrong about mental health claims
• What a department doing this right actually looks like
• The one thing Picone and Ali would change about how employers approach responder health

**Resources for Responder Wellness:**

• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr

Contact David Picone and Ramsey Ali:

 Learn more about HSLA: http://hslalliance.org
First Responder Institute at Institutes of Health: https://institutesofhealth.org

Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/

Twenty-five years later, 343 still means something. It's the number of FDNY members lost on 9/11. Now it's also the number of miles a five-day ride will cover, from Boston to the 9/11 Memorial in New York City.

Suzanne Stone, President and CEO of Livestrong, joins Responder Resilience to talk about the First Responder Ride for Resilience: why it exists, who's riding, and what it means for a first responder community still absorbing the cost of that day, and every day since.

Livestrong has spent almost 30 years working the "soft side" of survivorship, the part that isn't clinical. For first responders, that means occupational cancer risk baked into the job itself, families left without a playbook, and a culture that doesn't always know how to ask for help. Suzanne breaks down what Livestrong is building specifically for fire, police, and EMS. That includes a culturally competent survivor's guide, Ellis (their AI-powered survivorship companion), and a fertility preservation discount network covering 150+ clinics nationwide.

The ride itself runs September 6 to 10, 2026, gathering in Boston and finishing at the 9/11 Memorial and Battery Park in New York. It arrives September 10 so active-duty riders can be back at their firehouses on the anniversary itself.

**Resources for Responder Wellness:**

• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr

Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/

LIVESTRONG:
🔗 Ride details & registration: https://911ride.org
🔗 Learn more about Livestrong's work: https://livestrong.org
📫 Questions or want to get involved: [email protected]

"Cultural competence" gets thrown around a lot in mental health circles. Dr. Brooke Bartlett has a harder definition: specialized, ongoing training paired with hands-on experience- not a one-hour class, not having an uncle who's a firefighter, not a personality trait you either have or don't. Bartlett, licensed clinical psychologist and founder of the Center for Trauma, Anxiety, and Stress, joins Responder Resilience to unpack what it actually takes for a clinician to earn - not perform - fluency with the first responder population. She breaks down the fastest ways clinicians lose trust in a first session, why overcompensating with jargon backfires faster than admitting what you don't know, and why leading with curiosity beats leading with credentials every time.

To ground the conversation, she uses moral injury as the case study - walking through its three pathways (acts of commission, omission, and institutional betrayal), the neuroscience that separates it from PTSD, and why "should have, could have" is the phrase she hears most from first responders. It's a clear example of why cultural fluency isn't optional: you can't treat what you don't understand.

Dr. Bartlett offers live and on-demand continuing education courses for clinicians on cultural competency for first responders and on assessing and treating moral injury - details at centertas.com/events.

Subscribe for more conversations with the people building a stronger, more resilient first responder culture.

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★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★
• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr
• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com
• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

CONNECT WITH RESPONDER RESILIENCE
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week. https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
📩 Sign up for our newsletter: https://ResponderTV.com 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/

DR. BROOKE BARTLETT
🔹 Website: centertas.com
🔹 Instagram: @doctorbrookephd

What happens when every traditional treatment fails — and a first responder is still drowning?

Retired FDNY-EMS paramedic and Army combat medic Carmine Fiore survived 30 treatment centers and 15 heroin overdoses before trying something the first responder world rarely talks about: Ibogaine-assisted treatment at Ambio Life Sciences in Tijuana, Mexico.

In this episode, Carmine joins host David Dachinger and psychedelic-assisted therapy provider Candace Maisel, LCSW, for a candid, deeply personal conversation about what it took to finally heal — and what that healing actually looks like.

In this episode:

• What cumulative trauma looks like when it's been suppressed for years — and why it doesn't just disappear
• Carmine's Ibogaine journey: the childhood memories, the generational trauma, and the moment Ibogaine delivered a message about his late father
• The neuroscience behind psychedelic healing — BDNF, GDNF, neuroplasticity, and why the brain's post-treatment window matters
• Why psilocybin's 6-8 hour duration gives it an edge over ketamine for deep trauma work
• What integration really looks like — and why the medicine is only the beginning
• What Carmine would say to the first responder white-knuckling it right now, afraid to ask for help
• The Casey Skudin 343 Fund — and how it's helping first responders access treatment they couldn't otherwise afford

Responder Resilience is an informational podcast. The experiences and perspectives shared in this episode are not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Psychedelic-assisted therapies carry real risks and are not appropriate for everyone. Please consult your physician or a licensed mental health professional before pursuing any treatment options discussed here.

Subscribe to Responder Resilience:
🎧 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with us:
 🌐 ResponderTV.com
 📘 Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★
• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr
• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com
• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

Contact Candace Maisel, LCSW
https://ct-psych.com/candace-maisel-lcsw
https://www.linkedin.com/in/candacemaisellcsw

Contact Carmine Fiore
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmine-fiore-241a701a8/
https://www.instagram.com/carmine12285
https://www.thetravelagency.co/

Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/

She lost him. Then she found a way through.

Lt. James Crawford (Ret.) of the Chicago Police Department was a pastor, a mentor, and the man everyone leaned on. Months after retiring, he died by suicide. His wife, Erie S. Crawford, LSW, PhD — a licensed social worker who saw the signs — made a decision in her darkest hour: this loss would not take her too.

She buried him on a Saturday. By Monday, she was in therapy, fighting for her own healing. What she built from that fight is now helping suicide-loss families across the country find their way back to life.

In this episode, Dr. Crawford joins hosts Lt. David Dachinger (ret.) and guest co-host Lynette Shaw-Butler for a conversation about loss, love, and the long road back.

In this episode:

 ▪ Why the "strong ones" carry pain silently — and how families can gently open that door
 ▪ The warning signs she saw, and what she wants other spouses to know
 ▪ The retirement transition: why a plan for what's next matters as much as the pension
 ▪ What suicide-loss families need after the funeral, when the initial support fades
 ▪ The S.U.N.R.I.S.E. Healing Journey: Surrender, Understand, Nurture, Reconcile, Integrate, Strengthen, Engage
 ▪ Her guiding truth: when night ends, the sun rises

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). Healing is possible — and you don't have to walk it alone.

Watch on YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Full archive: ResponderTV.com

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week. https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience

★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr
• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com
• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

After 26 years as an FBI Special Agent — investigating fraud, corruption, and the schemes that cost people everything — Jerri Williams could have walked away quietly. She didn't.

She entered the Bureau in 1982 as one of the first Black female agents in FBI history. She worked the cases. She learned the truth. And when Hollywood started telling a different story, she wrote the book to correct it — literally.

Now she hosts FBI Case File Review, a true crime podcast with over 10 million downloads, and she's on a mission to preserve the real stories of the men and women who served.

In this episode, Jerri, David, and Stacy sit down to talk about something every first responder needs to hear: why your story matters, why telling it protects the profession, and why silence is the real threat to your legacy. In this episode:

• Why Jerri has spent 10 years sharing FBI stories — and what she's learned
• How authentic storytelling shapes public trust in law enforcement
• What gets lost when first responders don't preserve their experience
• Why your personal legacy deserves to be told — on your terms
• The cases that changed how she sees the mission of storytelling itself

Watch on YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Full archive: ResponderTV.com

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week. https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience

★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RR10 for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr
• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com
• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

Connect with Jerri Williams:

🌐 jerriwilliams.com
📘 facebook.com/JerriWilliamsAuthor
📸 instagram.com/fbicasereview
💼 linkedin.com/in/jerriwilliamsauthor
📚 FBI Myths and Misconceptions: jerriwilliams.com/books

Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/

#ResponderResilience #FirstResponders #LawEnforcement #FBI #MentalHealth #Storytelling #FirstResponderWellness #TrueCrime #Leadership #LegacyBuilding

🎙️ Responder Resilience is built for first responders, mental health professionals, and anyone committed to the long-term health of those who serve.

The United States has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialized world. Not because the firefighters aren't good enough. Not because the apparatus isn't fast enough. Because of culture.

Dr. Burton Clark has been saying that since 1970. He became a volunteer firefighter that year, a career firefighter two years later, and spent the next fifty-five years working at every level of the fire service — from neighborhood firehouses to the National Fire Academy to the halls of Johns Hopkins University. He has studied more firefighter fatalities than most people have had shifts. And the conclusion he keeps reaching is the same one nobody wants to write in the after-action report.

Something went wrong. It always does. And most of the time, it didn't have to.

In this episode of Responder Resilience, Dr. Clark gets into the culture behind the casualty. Why America emphasizes suppression over prevention while other countries do the opposite — and why that choice shows up in the death toll. Why fire deaths are still treated as inevitable when the data says they aren't. What the social, political, economic, and technological forces shaping fire culture actually look like from the inside. And what it's going to take — at the company level, the chief level, and the community level — for anything to actually change.

This is not a comfortable episode. It's not supposed to be.

If you wear a badge, lead a department, or care about bringing every firefighter home — this conversation is for you

**Resources for Responder Wellness:**

• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RR10 for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr

Contact Dr. Clark:
americanfireculture.com

Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/

A senior FBI agent heard Chaplain Cary Friedman deliver a eulogy. He was struck by something he couldn't quite name — the message was spiritual, but it wasn't religious. Universal without being hollow. A week later, Chaplain Friedman was at the FBI Academy in Quantico. He's been consulting to the Behavioral Science Unit ever since.

For more than two decades, Chaplain Friedman has been working with law enforcement officers across the country on something the behavioral sciences triad left out: the soul. Not religion. Not doctrine. The deeper thing that gets a person out of bed and into a patrol car every morning, and the thing that quietly erodes when the job takes more than it gives back.

In this episode of Responder Resilience, we get into all of it. The distinction between spirituality and religion, and why it matters more than most cops think. Moral injury. The inner critic that replays every call with the word "should." The nobility of policing and what happens when officers lose sight of it. The interconnectedness principle. The personal mission statement that changes everything when you actually write it down.

And yes, Batman. Chaplain Friedman is the world's foremost authority on the Dark Knight, and he uses that to powerful effect with law enforcement audiences. The adverse childhood experiences. The pain turned into mission. The "What Would Batman Do?" exercise that lands differently than you'd expect in a room full of cops.

If you wear a badge, work with people who do, or care about what this profession does to the human beings inside it — this episode is for you.

**Resources for Responder Wellness:**

• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RR10 for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr

Contact Chaplain Cary A. Friedman: 

Website: http://spiritualsurvivalforlawenforcement.com/

Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: [email protected]
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/