The Firefighter Deconstructed

Don Pemberton

Don sits down with Christy and talks about coaching first responders to create and maintain healthy lives and actions that can help PREVENT Post Traumatic Stress. He and the organization, 1st Responder Coaching, really have something here that all first responders could use--either as individuals or as whole organizations. I really encourage you to take a listen. This service has the capability to help so many people.

website: www.1strespondercoaching.org
Use the promo code: deconstructed to save 10% off your first month of coaching

facbook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1strespondercoaching
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1st_responder_coaching/

Personal Contact:
https://www.instagram.com/firstresponderlifecoach/
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-pemberton/

Retired police officer Stephanie Polizziani spent 15 years as a police officer, most of them for the city of Berkeley and then moved on to Benicia. She began to feel her life become dark. She planned on just keeping her head down on and not dealing with it. That is until her husband, also a police officer, told her she needed to get some help. Stephanie has a unique perspective as a police officer and a police officer’s wife. She shares how it feels different now to be a police officer’s wife as a stay at home mom. Stephanie also incorporates how all the recent anti police rhetoric has affected her during her career. She is very tough and carries a huge heart.

Today’s show is awesome and everyone should listen to this. Shauna Doc Springer and I talk about an existing and very accessible total game changer in the treatment of PTSD. It’s called the Stellate Ganglion Block. We also talk about first responder suicide and thoughts for friends and loved ones of someone who dies by suicide.

Shauna ‘Doc’ Springer is a licensed psychologist, best-selling author, frequently requested keynote speaker, award-winning podcast host, and one of the world's leading experts on psychological trauma, military transition, suicide prevention, and close relationships. A Harvard graduate who has become a trusted Doc to our nation’s military warfighters and first responders, she navigates diverse cultures with exceptional agility. As Chief Psychologist for STELLA, she advances a new model for treating psychological trauma that combines biological and psychological interventions. Doc Springer is frequently sourced by the media for her uniquely perceptive insights on trauma recovery, post-traumatic growth, psychological health, and interpersonal relationships, developed from two decades of work at the extremes. Her work has been featured in multiple media outlets, including VICE, NPR, NBC, CNN, CBS Radio, Forbes, Business Insider, Military Times, Military.com, Gun Talk Radio, Coffee or Die Magazine, Havok Journal, THRIVE GLOBAL, US News and World Report, NEWSMAX, The Daily News, Police1, Anxiety.org, and Psychology Today. In her recently published book, RELENTLESS COURAGE: Winning the Battle AgainstFrontline Trauma, along with Sergeant (Ret) Michael Sugrue, she tackles the complexity of trauma with the law enforcement community, uncovers the unspoken barriers, and outlines a path to healing. RELENTLESS COURAGE has been described by Lt. Col. David Grossman, best-selling author of On Killing and On Combat as “one of the most important books of our time” and “the natural successor to On Combat.

www.stellacenter.com
www.docshaunaspringer.com
RELENTLESS COURAGE: Winning the Battle Against Frontline Trauma
Shauna 'Doc' Springer on the human impact of first responder trauma

Today’s show is all about the brain and what happens to it when it’s exposed to trauma repeatedly. Dr. Nan Herron, a real medical doctor, and I sit down and talk about why people want to drop the D in PTSD and replace it with an I - because it’s not a disorder, it’s an injury. Like a real, physical injury to your brain. Remember we had on Paula Siddens, the CHP officer who had a serious head injury from crashing her bike, and how almost all of her symptoms were the same as PTS? Dr. Herron spells it out in language that even us firefighters can understand. In her private practice she specializes in working with first responders. She has lectured and taught workshops throughout the USA and in Haiti, Fiji and Kenya. She is the Medical Director of Behavioral Health at Santa Rosa Hospital, California.


https://www.fireengineering.com/health-safety/reducing-the-stigma-of-psychiatric-medications/#gref

San Francisco Fire Paramedic Danny McAtee makes his second appearance on the show. We sit down and discuss part of our first responder community that carries an extra weight daily and especially when they struggle with mental health and PTS. The LBGTQ+ community has been invisible for so long in first responder world that we need to make a change so EVERYONE knows they are not alone.

Chris Warren is a retired San Jose Police Officer who was the negotiator on a barricaded subject with a tragic ending. When the tragedy happened, no one talked about it or even talked to him at all. This critical incident, on top of years of being a cop, sent him into rages he didn't know he was capable of. Dealing with his PTS he also learned the other aspects of his life that were eating at him. He has built a new career for himself helping first responders find new careers after retirement.
email: [email protected]
Phone: 408-230-2622

Show Notes: Kick-ass retired Sheriff Deputy Sally Lobb sits down with The Firefighter Deconstructed and shares her story of becoming and being a woman cop, peer support and her own story of getting PTSI. I personally know Sally and know she is quick witted, smart and tough as nails. When bad shit is going sideways I guarantee you want Sally there. So if Sally can get PTSI, then anyone can get it.

This week I sit down with Captain Paramedic Chris Moore of the Chesapeake Fire Department in the state of Virginia. Chris started and spent about 10 years as a volunteer and then moved over to working as a firefighter full time. Chris and I talk about the specific challenges that Volunteer firefighters face when it comes to mental health. Chris shares his story of falling into that dark hole and climbing his way out of it. He is so very authentic, brave and genuine. Chris is still working and travels all over to speak and share his PTS story.

Chris Moore Cell Phone: 757-536-3373
Chris Moore email: [email protected]

The most interesting man in the world, Danny McAtee and I had a great conversation about the job’s challenges, how we don’t ask for help and put everyone else first, even at serious cost to ourselves. Danny is a retired San Francisco paramedic with the SF Fire Department. He continued to get hit (literally) to the point he couldn’t take it any more. Out in the distance he saw a couple of lights that pointed him in the right direction. He could have ignored them but he decided to listen and do the work to get better. Danny is the man.

Cassie Sexton works for First Responder WellnessCassie has extensive Law Enforcement experience in dispatch, jail, and traffic divisions. Early in her career she became eager to learn new specialties, showing natural leadership, and a passion for teaching and presenting. With her diverse background, this opened an opportunity at the local college the last few years allowing her to be a speaker for Dispatch courses, most recently, specializing in wellness and PTS.
Cassie is passionate about helping first responders due to her own healing journey of dealing with PTS through wellness, meditation, and recovery. Cassie helps facilitate and lead peer-run Fellowship Support Groups for first responders twice a week. The support groups allow and provide a safe space for first responders to gather, share, and heal from the unique traumas we all face on the job.
Cassie enjoys spending time with her two dogs, Colt and Ruger. She enjoys traveling the world and loves to learn about other cultures and beliefs
www.firstresponder-wellness.com