First responder work does not stay at the station, the hospital, or the dispatch center. It comes home. In this first part of a two-part conversation, trauma therapist and doctoral candidate Parul Shah joins The Other Side of the Call to talk about the often-unseen impact of first responder work on families. Parul brings more than two decades of experience in mental health, including work in child protection and trauma-informed psychotherapy. She also brings lived experience as the spouse of a police officer and member of a first responder family for more than twenty-four years. Together we explore: • How […]

What does it mean to fight fire in a place where everyone knows everyone, resources are stretched, and you may be on call any time you are in town? In Episode 17 of The Other Side of the Call, we return to Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, for Part 2 of our conversation with longtime volunteer firefighter Jason Panter and his wife, Helen. With a population of just over 2,000 people, Fort Smith depends heavily on volunteer responders. When the pager goes off, firefighters leave their regular jobs, their families, and whatever else is happening in their lives to help neighbours […]

What does firefighting look like in a town where everyone is a volunteer? In Episode 16 of The Other Side of the Call, we travel to Fort Smith in Canada’s Northwest Territories to speak with longtime volunteer firefighter Jason and his wife Helen about life and emergency response in a northern community of just over 2,000 people. When the pager goes off in a place like Fort Smith, firefighters leave their jobs, their families, and whatever they were doing to respond to neighbours in crisis. With limited resources and vast distances between communities, volunteer departments in the North rely heavily on […]

Families connected to military, Veteran, and public safety service carry responsibilities that often go unseen. Shift work, mobility, operational stress, caregiving demands, and identity strain shape family life long before crisis ever occurs. In this episode, we sit down in studio at CFRC with Dr. Heidi Cramm and Lisa Delaney of Garnet Families, a national Queen’s University-based network supporting military, Veteran, first responder, and public safety families across Canada. Together, we explore: • What “Garnet Family” means and why naming matters • How service becomes a family lifestyle, not just a job • Why families are often treated as risk […]

In this episode, we sit down with Jason MacKenzie, the husband of OPP Constable Cindy MacKenzie, who died by suicide while serving. Rather than revisiting institutional failures of the past, this conversation focuses on institutional learning and progress. Jason reflects on the personal realities of loss, parenting, and survival, while also discussing recent outreach from the OPP and why this moment feels different from years prior. This is a forward-looking conversation about accountability, prevention, and the personal price families pay when systems evolve too slowly, and the impact that meaningful change can have when they finally do.

Today we’re at CFB Kingston with Lt. Col. Steve Boychyn of Wounded Warriors Canada. Wounded Warriors Canada offers trauma and resiliency programs across the country. For clarity and length, today we’re focusing on six of their key programs — each serving a different stage of service or a different group of people. Here’s how today’s episode is structured: Number one: Before Operational Stress, or BOS — prevention. Number two: The Trauma Resiliency Program, or TRP — individual recovery. Number three: COPE, which stands for Couples Overcoming PTSD Every Day — support for couples navigating operational stress injuries. Number four: Warrior Kids — support for […]

Michael Laughlin had already fought his way back more than once, but then, a motorcycle accident changed everything again. In Part II of Mind Over Fire, Michael speaks candidly about the aftermath of losing his leg, the physical and emotional realities of starting over, and the slow work of redefining strength when the old measures no long apply. This episode moves beyond survival to explore partnership, fatherhood, and the day-to-day decisions that shape a meaningful life after trauma – without pretending the losses disappear. You can reach Michael on Instagram @firefighteramp or on his website: michaellaughlinspeaking.com

Early in his career, Kingston firefighter Michael Laughlin was seriously injured in a snowmobile accident that threatened not just his physical recovery, but his place in the fire service itself. In Part I of Mind Over Fire, Michael walks us through his younger years, the realities of recovering from a major injury in a profession built on strength and endurance, and the quiet pressure of proving himself while his body was still healing. This episode explores what happens when identity, purpose, and livelihood collide early on, and how resilience is shaped long before anyone is watching. You can reach Michael […]

Shaun Taylor is a working Ontario paramedic and the co-founder, alongside Jill Foster, of #IGYB911, one of Canada’s most recognizable and trusted grassroots peer support movements for first responders. In this episode of The Other Side of the Call, Shaun joins hosts Amelia Thornton, Rebecca Rafuse, and Kathy-Ann Laman for an honest, trauma-informed conversation about the realities of frontline work, the limits of traditional support systems, and what actually helps people stay in the job — and stay alive. Shaun reflects on his path into paramedicine, the culture he entered, and the long-standing gaps in mental health support across emergency […]

A trauma-informed conversation on stress injuries, nervous-system regulation and the power of nature-based recovery,