My favorite guest ever joins me on this episode! He's my favorite because he's my husband. Ross has been through 4 fire academies (the first he put himself through, 2nd and 3rd were volunteer, 4th was career) in his 13 years as a responder. It has been a journey. Together we talk about what it is like to be in the academy, as well as what it is like for the support system. Tune in!

My oh my I have been absent! This is just a quick update on what's been happening lately.

How to manage the garbage in your life. The responder world tends to come with adding a bunch of garbage to the dumpsters of your life, so take a listen to find some ways to take your garbage to the dump.

Meditation App: H*nest Meditation - Highly recommend this app!

My first ever guest, Chief Travis Hopwood, from West Metro Fire in the Denver area joined me to discuss the struggles that responders and their families have with coming off shift and the adjustment period that it can take for families. We also discuss what it looks like to go back to work and how to prepare. Travis shares about his experiences in the early days of his career, as well as now, 23-years into working for the fire service. Be sure to TURN UP YOUR AUDIO. Newbie over here still learning how to record with multiple people.

Let me know what you think!

Book mentioned in the episode: Tribe by Sebastian Junger

Calendar App: Fire Sync

As Dallas Green says in the Song Just a Little Mercy, "We don't need this pain and this suffering." In this episode, I discuss the difficulties of relying solely on insurance and EAP benefits to gain access to care. It creates barriers to health, despite what most people think. We must do better. It's not enough. Please do what you can to be proactive about your mental health. Don't wait until a crisis hits.

As mentioned in the show, I have resources below that are specifically for responders and their families, though many of them are limited to Colorado.

Revital Colorado: https://www.revitalcolorado.org/

Restoration Ranch: https://restorationranchcolorado.com/

One Goat Foundation: https://onegoat.org/

Code4 Counseling: https://www.code4counseling.com/

Foundation 1023: https://foundation1023.org/

Building Warriors: https://buildingwarriors.org/

First Responder Trauma Counselors: https://911overwatch.org/

Next Rung: https://www.nextrung.org/

Firefighter Behavioral Health Trust (I forgot to go into detail about this one!): https://www.cfhtrust.com/behavioral/

And so many more...

#mentalhealth #emergencyresponder #firstresponder #firstresponderwellness #911 #firefighter #lawenforecement #dispatch #paramedic #emt #firstresponderhealth #firstrespondermentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters

Welcome! I am so glad you are here. This episode is simply an introduction as to why I started this podcast, starting with my personal experience leading into my professional experience. I also share some ideas I have for future episodes. Thank you for listening and for giving me a platform to discuss the importance of Mental Health and Emergency Response. #firstresponders #firstrespondermentalhealth #mentalhealth #lawenforcement #firefighter #ems #searchandrescue #dispatch #emergency #emergencyresponder #responderlife #responderfamily #peersupport #peerfitness