The Code 9 Foundation

In this episode, Phil talks about his experiences of discovering that he was gay. From being at an all boys Catholic School in Ireland where he was surrounded by alpha boys, to being in San Francisco on a gap year, to telling his mum that he was gay, and everything in between.

The concept behind this episode is to show that like those that live with mental health conditions, those that are having their sexuality challenged, you are not alone. You will never be alone.

Phil's words on how he got through that period and the advice he would give a 13, 16 and 19 year old Phil are awesome.

Sergeant Brent Macintyre has been a police officer for 23 years both in Ottawa and Niagara. Brent has been the face of the Ottawa Wellness Unit since it first commenced operating in 2017 and he is the Peer Support Coordinator. In this podcast he talks about what wellbeing support was available to Ottawa Police officers before this, what he has learnt about the Ottawa Police Service and officer wellness, his views on why mental health wellness has come a long way in Ottawa over the past 3 years and what the hardest part of his role has been. He also talks about how he is currently taking some proactive psychological time-off after dealing with a recent officer suicide.

Nick was a police officer for 25 years with the Anitoch Police Department in California. For 17 of those years he worked night shift in a town that was well known for its high crime rate, drugs and gang violence. Nick was exposed surely to the worst possible critical incident possible when he had to shoot his own brother who was threatening to kill his parents. He was responsible for establishing Anitoch PD's first ever peer support unit. Nick is now the peer support director at the West Coast Post Trauma Retreat that provides a one week residential program for first responders struggling with PTSD.

Sergeant Stuart Charlesworth is a sergeant with the Greater Manchester police and in 2012 was exposed to one of the worst critical incidents a police officer could attend. He was a supervising sergeant on the 18th September 2012 when two of his constables were ambushed and murdered. It took Stuart 4 years to seek help for his mental health and he tells us his story along with how stigma contributed to this delay in help-seeking and the importance of early intervention. He is also a Churchill Fellow and is waiting to come to Victoria Police as part of his research.

Julie Werhnyak is a 20 year veteran member of Tempe Police Department in Phoenix, Arizona before her retirement in 2016. Her retirement came after she was stabbed in the neck when responding to a welfare check where she found a male stabbing his partner before he turned on Julie. Julie fatally shot the offender and has since recovered to be a sought after speaker and runs her own defensive tactics business educating many police departments across the USA.

Sergeant Martin Lally from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was at the forefront of the wellbeing response after the deadly 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. He has worked through his own mental health injury and outlines how and why he now considers himself in better health. He is also a recipient of a Sir Winston Churchill Fellowship in the UK, which saw him travel to Australia and spend sometime researching Victoria Police's Wellbeing Services in May 2019.

In this episode of "Conversations with The Code 9 Foundation" Erin chats with Mark Dobson. Mark is an operational firefighter with FRNNSW and spent seven years as the Wellbeing Coordinator in Work, Health and Safety. He also wrote the first mental health policy for any NSW Government Agency, which led to the Beyond Blue Framework, which has been used by First Responder organisations to modernise workplace mental health programs. Mark was also awarded an Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) in this years Queens Birthday Awards. He joins us to reflect on how we can best support the mental health and well-being of those involved in emergency and disaster response.

In this tenth episode of "Conversations with The Code 9 Foundation" we are joined by one of the original - and much-respected - members of the Code 9 Family - Rob Atkins. This episode comes with a content warning as we discuss aspects of the Black Saturday bushfires, so if that event is difficult for you, or you are having a tough day today, perhaps come back and listen some other time, or skip over this episode. If you do listen, Rob provides an honest, real, raw and emotional reflection on his personal experience with PTSD. And stories like this are so important to share, as this is how we continue to break down stigma and normalise conversations around mental health.

In this ninth episode of "Conversations with The Code 9 Foundation", CEO of Beyond Blue Georgie Harman joins us to discuss why it is so important for us to look at how the country deals with mental health, how can support the well-being of those in the emergency services and on the frontline protecting the community, and her reflections on the importance of "self-replenishment" and "nothing about us without us".

In this eighth episode of "Conversations with The Code 9 Foundation" we are joined by CEO of Ambulance Victoria, Tony Walker. Tony joins us to reflect on the journey AV has taken to change the culture around well-being and to break down stigma and normalise conversations around mental health.