First Responder Wellness Podcast with Conrad Weaver

Healthy Relationships at Home = Healthier Work Life with JD & Shelli Schulgen

Healthy Relationships at Home = Healthier Work Life with JD & Shelli Schulgen
The national divorce rate for married couples has been at 50% for a while. For first responders its much higher, as much as 75 percent. That’s a staggering statistic. 8 out of ten first responders you work with are likely to be in a divorce. How can that change. Well the couple I have on the show today is working on that. 
JD & Shelli Schulgen have been married for almost 43 years! JD is a station Captain with the Garland Fire Department with 39 years of service. Shelli is a full-time farm wife running a small beef cattle operation outside of Dallas Texas. JD & Shelli present a Fire Fighter Family Orientation for new recruits to give them some tools to cope with the stress of fire service life. They are pouring themselves into the married couples of the Garland fire department and making a difference. What are their secrets, and how have they lasted for 43 years? Today we’ll find out.  They have two sons (who are both are firefighters) and 4 grandchildren.
Connect with JD: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jd-schulgen-12025436/
 
Disclaimer: The views of guests on the First Responder Wellness Podcast are not necessarily the views of the producers and host of the show.
 
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First Responder Wellness Podcast
Patreon Channel: https://www.patreon.com/FirstResponderWellnessPodcast
PTSD911 Documentary: https://ptsd911movie.com/
Purchase the PTSD911 film for your public safety agency or organization: https://ptsd911.myshopify.com/products/ptsd911-digital-toolkit-pre-orders-only
 
 

Building a Culture of Wellness is a Process with Anna Fitch Courie

Building a Culture of Wellness is a Process with Anna Fitch Courie
In this episode Conrad talks with Dr. Anna Fitch Courie, Director of Responder Wellness, with the FirstNet Program at AT&T. Their conversation centers around the need to support first responders with the resources they need to thrive and live healthy lives.
Dr. Courie, is the Director of Responder Wellness, with the FirstNet Program at AT&T. She is a nurse, Army wife, former university faculty, and author. Dr. Courie has worked for more than 20 years in the health care profession including Bone Marrow Transplant, Intensive Care, Public Health, and Health Promotion practice. She holds a Bachelor’s in Nursing from Clemson University; a Master’s in Nursing Education from the University of Wyoming; and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the Ohio State University. Dr. Courie’s area of expertise is integration of public health strategy across disparate organizations to achieve health improvement goals.
Learn more about Responder Wellness, with the FirstNet Program: https://www.firstnet.com/community/health-and-wellness.html
White Paper: https://www.firstnet.com/content/dam/firstnet/white-papers/firstnet-helping-the-helpers.pdf
 
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First Responder Wellness Podcast
Patreon Channel: https://www.patreon.com/FirstResponderWellnessPodcast
PTSD911 Documentary: https://ptsd911movie.com/
Purchase the PTSD911 film for your public safety agency or organization: https://ptsd911.myshopify.com/products/ptsd911-digital-toolkit-pre-orders-only

Fair is Just a Weather Condition with Marc Junkerman

Fair is Just a Weather Condition with Marc Junkerman
Marc “Junk” Junkerman joins us on today's episode of the First Responder Wellness Podcast. Marc is a retired law enforcement Lieutenant from Maryland who gave 28 years of active service. His diverse assignments included tours in Patrol, Special Operations/SWAT, Special Investigations, Warrant/Fugitive Apprehension, Planning, and Training. He also served for nearly a decade in the US Army and US Army Reserve as both an enlisted soldier and commissioned officer. He hails from a service family and is proud to be a fourth generation US military veteran, to be married to a retired police officer, to have two daughters in the nursing field, and a son serving as an active police officer. He now operates as an independent consultant whose primary focus is in assisting clients with the design, implementation, and sustainment of wellness and resiliency cultures. His approach is best reflected in the US Army’s leadership mantra of “Mission First, People Always” and is rooted in practical, holistic leadership and management applications.Marc is a faculty member and outreach ambassador with the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) headquartered in Maryland and has been fortunate to consistently support local, state, national, and international clients and audiences. He has been tapped on numerous occasions to brief or testify in front of state and federal lawmakers, serves regularly as a keynote speaker, and is the creator of the CISM 360© and S.O.A.Ring with CISM programs. He was a certified law enforcement and corrections instructor for the State of Maryland for over 20-years during which time he taught various courses to include blocks for his state’s mandated First Line Supervisor and First Line Administrator trainings. He also presented for over a decade in support of the Greater Chesapeake Law Enforcement Executive Leadership Seminar co-sponsored by the FBI. He is a certified Mental Health First Aid and a Crisis Intervention Team instructor and consistently teaches on these topics on the Maryland Eastern Shore. Marc also volunteers for various public service organizations which include the Special Olympics of Maryland and the Maryland Department of the American Legion. He holds a BA in Psychology from Lebanon Valley College as well as MS in Managment and Graduate Certificate in Leadership from Johns Hopkins University.
Learn more about ICISF: http://www.ICISF.org
Connect with Marc: http://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-Junkerman-457983255
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First Responder Wellness Podcast
Patreon Channel: https://www.patreon.com/FirstResponderWellnessPodcast
PTSD911 Documentary: https://ptsd911movie.com/
Purchase the PTSD911 film for your public safety agency or organization: https://ptsd911.myshopify.com/products/ptsd911-digital-toolkit-pre-orders-only

Surviving Grief with Lisa Zoll

Surviving Grief with Lisa Zoll.
How do first responders deal with death? They face it almost daily, and yet have to continue on their work. In this episode Conrad talks with Lisa Zoll who is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in helping clients challenged by loss, grief, and trauma.
WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS FRANK TALK ABOUT DEATH AND SUICIDE.
Her experience as a volunteer firefighter and EMT at Camp Hill Fire Department, Company 14 led her to become a trainer and volunteer for the Keystone Crisis Intervention Team (KCIT) and to join with On the Job and Off's First Responder Assistance Program to provide mental health services to first responders.
Lisa believes that when grievers tell their stories, they are often struggling to make sense of the event.  Grievers, telling and retelling their stories, are an integral part of the grieving process.  She has developed an approach for how we look at the journey of grief that removed the stages, expectations, time frames, and banishes the word closure.  The approach is more about weaving your loss into your life and honoring your journey instead of treating it like a problem to be solved.
Lisa graduated with her MSW from Temple University, Harrisburg in 2003.  Lisa’s experience includes 12 years as a Clinical Psychiatric Specialist at the Penn State University Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, working in the Adult Partial Hospitalization Program and Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic.  In 2008, Lisa began teaching Loss & Grief as an Adjunct Instructor in the Master of Social Work at Temple University, Harrisburg.  In 2014 she was appointed as a full-time faculty instructor where she taught courses across the curriculum until the closure of the program.
Lisa founded “Grief Relief, LLC” in 2019 and specializes in helping clients challenged by loss, grief, and trauma. She has published several articles and has spoken on the local, state, and national level about loss and grief and how they can impact individuals, families, communities, and organizations. She completed EMDR training in January 2022. 
Learn more about Lisa and Grief Relief: https://www.griefrelieftherapy.com/
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First Responder Wellness Podcast
Patreon Channel: https://www.patreon.com/FirstResponderWellnessPodcast
PTSD911 Documentary: https://ptsd911movie.com/
Purchase the PTSD911 film for your public safety agency or organization: https://ptsd911.myshopify.com/products/ptsd911-digital-toolkit-pre-orders-only
 

Yoga Rescue with Vance Row

Yoga Rescue with Vance Row
Within 30 days of his first studio class, he knew he wanted to teach cops, firefighters, correctional officers, dispatchers and first responders.
Guest: Vance Row, Yoga Teacher/ Police- Fire Dispatcher/ Former Police Corporal
BIO: Vance first found yoga after a number of back injuries in 2008 and 2009. During physical therapy, he would use yoga as a change of pace type workout. When Vance did, he always did so at home where he could struggle with difficult poses and try to follow along with what he saw on the screen. Vance says that he always had anxiety about entering a yoga studio because he felt like he wasn’t good enough to practice with other attendees. That changed in November 2019 when Vance signed for and attended a class in Fenwick Island, DE.
Vance quickly discovered that yoga practice is a powerful community of connection and challenges. Through his regular practice, Vance has found an incredible amount of physical and mental benefits including making him a far calmer person. At the time, Vance was struggling with his own mental health issues which included a toxic work environment, career ending injury, and poor coping mechanisms like abusing alcohol.
Prior to becoming a Yoga Teacher, Vance was a Police Officer for more than twenty years and worked for both Ocean City, MD Police and Salisbury, MD Police during his Law Enforcement career. After seeing the physical and mental benefits yoga provided for Vance, he decided that he wanted to teach yoga to other First Responders/ Public Safety Professionals. Vance completed his 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training thru Yoga- Vibez in Ocean City, MD in March 2021. Throughout his training, Vance was mentored in the Hatha Yoga tradition by Tana Martin (RYT-500). Since that time, he has also completed Warriors at Ease Training, Aerial Yoga Teacher Training and most recently Veterans Yoga Project Mindful Resilience. Vance blends a practice mixed with breath, movement, and mindfulness for an overall feeling of well being. During these sessions students can expect to move, stretch, work of alignment, build strength, and nurture flexibility. He believes that the practice of Yoga is really for anyone and makes his classes fun and accessible to ANY level.
Ultimately, his story shows the power of yoga in resilience and why Vance wants to use yoga to combat First Responder/ Military Suicide. Vance founded “Yoga Rescue” as a way to do so.
Learn more about Yoga Rescue: https://www.yoga-rescue.com/
Follow Yoga Rescue on Instagram and Facebook: @Yoga.Rescue
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First Responder Wellness Podcast
Patreon Channel: https://www.patreon.com/FirstResponderWellnessPodcast
PTSD911 Documentary: https://ptsd911movie.com/
Purchase the PTSD911 film for your public safety agency or organization: https://ptsd911.myshopify.com/products/ptsd911-digital-toolkit-pre-orders-only
 

A Buffet of Options with Todd Gyure

A BUFFET OF OPTIONSIn this first episode of the First Responder Wellness Podcast, Conrad talks with Garland, Texas Police Officer, Todd Gyure who heads up the wellness unit at Garland Police Department. Building a culture of wellness within a public safety agency is hard, especially when "Suck it up, buttercup" has been the motto for decades. Todd Gyure tells us how they did it at the Garland PD. Todd also talks about the Overwatch Peer Support (OPS) he founded along with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI*.) *NAMI was a sponsor for the PTSD911 documentary.
TODD GYURE - BIOTodd Gyure has worked at the Garland Police Department for over 21 years with the majority of that time spent on the street in Patrol. Todd is currently assigned to the Wellness Unit at the Garland Police Department. For the past 11 years Todd has also been a member of The Garland Police Departments S.W.A.T. team as a hostage negotiator. Todd is a TCOLE certified mental health officer, a Suicide and Crisis Center of North TX certified telephone crisis counselor, GPD TCOLE 1850 Crisis intervention training instructor, Department of Public Safety certified Officer Resilience Training Leader, FRCPI certified law enforcement suicide prevention trainer, IAFF behavioral health awareness peer support certified, member of Garland Police Departments Critical Incident Stress Management team, founder of The Law Enforcement Mental Health Alliance of North TX, Founder of the Overwatch Peer Support program for NAMI, founder of the North TX first responder wellness task force, Certified Police Field Training Officer, Mental Health First Aid certified instructor, and vehicle close quarters battle instructor. Todd is passionate about all things brain health for both the citizens he serves, and the law enforcement community at large. During his time with The Garland Police Department Todd has earned numerous awards and commendations to include: FOP’s Officer of the year, Garland Police Department’s 2019 Unit of the Year for his work in the mental health unit, Police Commendation Bar, Meritorious Conduct Bar, 2 Life Saving Bars, and several Officer of the Month certificates.
For more information about Overwatch Peer Support (OPS) https://www.naminorthtexas.org/frontline-wellness-1
OPS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Overwatch-Peer-Support-OPS/100093355954852/
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First Responder Wellness Podcast
Patreon Channel: https://www.patreon.com/FirstResponderWellnessPodcast
PTSD911 Documentary: https://ptsd911movie.com/
Purchase the PTSD911 film for your public safety agency or organization: https://ptsd911.myshopify.com/products/ptsd911-digital-toolkit-pre-orders-only
 

First Responder Wellness Podcast Trailer

The First Responder Wellness Podcast
In a world where courage and dedication meet the toughest challenges, there are unsung heroes who answer the call without hesitation. They are the first responders - the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.
But behind the badges and uniforms, they carry the weight of their experiences.
HI, My name is Conrad Weaver. I’m a filmmaker and the host of  the brand new 'First Responder Wellness Podcast' - a show dedicated to first responders and those who lead them.
Each episode features insightful discussions with first responder leaders as well as experts in the field of mental health, wellness, and resilience. We'll explore strategies to cope with stress and trauma. And discuss the importance of self-care and building support systems.
Join us as we follow the inspiring journeys of first responders who have overcome their struggles and found a path to healing.
Remember, you are never alone in this journey. Together, we'll conquer the challenges, prioritize our well-being, and emerge stronger than ever!
The First Responder Wellness Podcast - because the well-being of our heroes matters.
Subscribe now, and let's embark on this life-changing journey together!
 
Copyright ©2023 ConjoStudios, LLC - All rights Reserved.
 

Pushing the Pause Button

Conrad gives an update on the podcast and documentary film!
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LEARN MORE ABOUT PTSD911 DOCUMENTARY:https://ptsd911movie.com/https://www.instagram.com/ptsd911movie/https://www.facebook.com/ptsd911movie/https://twitter.com/ptsd911movie
SUPPORT THE FILM, MAKE A DONATION TO OUR FINISHING FUNDS CAMPAIGN and GET YOUR NAME IN THE CREDITS: https://fundthefirst.com/campaign/ptsd911-documentary-finishing-funds-apgixc
 
PTSD911 Presents is a production of ConjoStudios, LLCHost: Conrad WeaverCopyright ©2022 ConjoStudios, LLC

”Pick your hard.” - Mark Meincke

Mark Meincke is the host of the popular Operation Tango Romeo podcast - The Trauma Recovery Podcast. Today he's my guest on the PTSD911 Presents Podcast; we talk in depth about trauma and it's effects on the human experience.
TRIGGER WARNING: Some of the dialogue on today's show may be troubling for some viewers/listeners. If you or a family member or friend are struggling with mental health issues such as PTSD, please reach out.
Here are a few numbers you can call these numbers:
IN THE USA: Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call 988
IN CANADA: 1-833-456-4566
 
ABOUT MARK (In his own words)
I was hesitant to attend in-person peer support. But, the fella who invited me was persuasive, and I’m glad he was. In time, I became the Peer Support facilitator. The Canadian Department of National Defense provided me with the training to be certified, and my experience hosting workshops proved to be very useful. Group members wanted a way to preserve the lessons which we shared in Peer Support, so Operation Tango Romeo was born. Through the magic of Podcasting, Peer Support is now available to the world. Veterans, First-Responders, and their families often feel isolated and alone as a result of trauma injuries. By listening to this podcast, they are able to relate to the stories, which provides a valuable sense of connection. Feeling that you are not alone is healing in itself, but PTSD recovery is an activity, not an event. OP TR shares advice on which actions to take in order to heal. Resources on healing and coping through various modalities are shared by having practitioners as guests. It’s up to the individual to pick the modality which works for them, and to do the work required to heal.
CONNECT WITH MARK:
https://operationtraumarecovery.org/
 
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LEARN MORE ABOUT PTSD911 DOCUMENTARY:
https://ptsd911movie.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ptsd911movie/
https://www.facebook.com/ptsd911movie/
https://twitter.com/ptsd911movie
SUPPORT THE FILM, MAKE A DONATION TO OUR FINISHING FUNDS CAMPAIGN and GET YOUR NAME IN THE CREDITS: https://fundthefirst.com/campaign/ptsd911-documentary-finishing-funds-apgixc
PTSD911 Presents is a production of ConjoStudios, LLC
Host: Conrad Weaver
Copyright ©2022 ConjoStudios, LLC

If I could forget the trauma, my art would be different. - Dansun

"If I could forget the trauma, my art would be very different." - Daniel Sundahl
Today on the PTSD911 Presents Podcast: Paramedic/Artist, Daniel Sundahl
 
ABOUT DANIELDaniel was born in Alberta, Canada. Taking up a global residency as an English language teacher in Egypt, Mexico, Indonesia and Japan, he is now a firefighter and paramedic for the City of Leduc.
His love of photography began on his travels, and as his technique developed, he started to produce a blend of photography and graphic art, which he calls Photo Art.
The majority of Daniel’s work involves emergency services photography. It involves an emotional connection to the artist as most of his pieces are based on actual emergency calls he has attended as a paramedic and firefighter. He’s passionate about reducing the stigma of PTSD for first responders and he uses his art to raise awareness of occupational stress injuries worldwide.
He is a published artist and writer and has two art books produced of his works. Articles of his work have been featured in Canadian Paramedicine, Journal of Emergency Medicine (JEMS), Fire Rescue Magazine in Greece and EMS World Magazine. His art is recognized worldwide and he travels internationally speaking on his art and personal experiences with occupational stress injuries. He’s a pre hospital educator, a professional public speaker, photographer and photo editor.
Daniel enjoys combining the technical and artistic elements of his work. Each piece can take several days or weeks of processing until he feels it’s ready. He continues to travel often and gains inspiration for his art from his experiences.
CONNECT WITH DANIEL:
https://www.dansunphotos.com/
https://www.dansungallery.com
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LEARN MORE ABOUT PTSD911 DOCUMENTARY:https://ptsd911movie.com/https://www.instagram.com/ptsd911movie/https://www.facebook.com/ptsd911movie/https://twitter.com/ptsd911movie
Watch the podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XB5g5GpR8C4
 
SUPPORT THE FILM, MAKE A DONATION TO OUR FINISHING FUNDS CAMPAIGN: https://fundthefirst.com/campaign/ptsd911-documentary-finishing-funds-apgixc
 
PTSD911 Presents is a production of ConjoStudios, LLCHost: Conrad Weaver
Copyright ©2022 ConjoStudios, LLC