Responder Resilience

Lt. David Dachinger (Ret.), Dr. Stacy Raymond, Bonnie Rumilly, LCSW/EMT
  • 4.6 (8)
  • Mental Health
  • Weekly

The job doesn't stop when the call ends. Neither does this podcast. RESPONDER RESILIENCE: real conversations with firefighters, police, EMS, dispatch, and the clinicians who serve them. Trauma. Leadership. Culture. Retirement. Our Clinician's Guide series and the book Helping the Helpers, built from over 200 of these conversations, go further: real insight for first responders and the clinicians who serve them. Hosted by Lt. David Dachinger (Ret.), Dr. Stacy Raymond, and Bonnie Rumilly, LCSW/EMT. New episodes weekly.

  1. 3d ago

    S6 E43 Building Resilient First Responder Leadership: Rodger Ruge, Pathfinder Resilience

    You can build the best wellness program in the world, and your department will still say, “The hell I will.” Retired police officer Rodger Ruge knows why. After two decades in law enforcement and a hard-won recovery from complex PTSD, he spent 30 years testing what actually builds resilience. Today, as Chief Resilience Officer at Pathfinder Resilience, he works with first responder leaders on culture change that lasts beyond any one chief. Rodger joins Lt. David Dachinger (Ret.) and Bonnie Rumilly, LCSW/EMT, to talk about: The honest leadership assessment some chiefs throw awayWhy sharing hard feedback with the whole agency lowers resistanceLeadership at every rank, from the line to the topHow a clear “why” transformed recruiting for an RCMP communications centerHonor the Temple, his new book with Dr. Renee Thornton Contact Rodger Ruge: Website: https://www.rodgerrugeresiliencecoach.com Pathfinder Resilience: https://www.pathfinderresilience.com Pre-order Honor the Temple: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HLLSSB12 Contact Responder Resilience: Phone: +1 844-344-6655 Email: info@respondertv.com Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/ ★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★ • Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr • Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com • Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q This show is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, psychological, or professional treatment. Views expressed are those of the individuals, not any affiliated agency or organization. In an emergency, call 911. For mental health support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

  2. Oct 21

    S6 E42 Firefighter Identity & Mental Health: Doug Hexel, Fire Lieutenant & USAR Specialist

    Fire Lieutenant Doug Hexel has spent 13 years running calls, pulling patients out of rubble, and training the next generation of paramedics. He loves the job. He just refuses to let it become his whole identity. Doug is a career fire officer, urban search and rescue specialist, paramedic, and sworn New York State peace officer. He is a fire, EMS, and law enforcement instructor for New York State, sits on the state’s Pediatric EMS Advisory Committee, and holds technician-level certifications in hazmat, rope, confined space, trench, swiftwater, and collapse rescue. Doug joins hosts Lt. David Dachinger (Ret.) and Bonnie Rumilly, LCSW/EMT, to talk about: The line between resilience and suffering in silenceHypervigilance and what years of bad calls do to us“Death by rescue” and why medical comes first in technical rescueHow leaders build mental readiness into every shiftTelling a crew “it’s not your fault,” and meaning itTraining rescuers for outcomes they can’t changeLoving the job without living it Contact Doug Hexel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglashexel Don’t miss EMS Fire Pro Expo. October 22 through 24. Mohegan Sun. Register today at https://emspro.org/ Contact Responder Resilience: Phone: +1 844-344-6655 Email: info@respondertv.com Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/ ★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★ • Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr • Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com • Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q This show is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, psychological, or professional treatment. Views expressed are those of the individuals, not any affiliated agency or organization. In an emergency, call 911. For mental health support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

  3. Oct 14

    S6 E41 Building A Fire Service Wellness Program: Jason Corthell, Asst. Chief

    How do you build a fire service wellness program, and what does it actually cost? In this Visionary Leaders episode of Responder Resilience, Assistant Chief Jason Corthell of Cypress Creek Fire Department explains how his team built a program on three pillars (chaplaincy, peer support, and professional counseling) and why it costs far less than most chiefs assume. A fourth-generation firefighter, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and founder of Ironclad Wellness, Jason also talks about his new book, Freedom Found: A Mental Health Memoir, and why leaders who own their story build stronger departments. We cover: Leading through change as a new assistant chiefWhy your social circle shrinks as you promote, and what to do about itHow to pick a peer support team that mirrors your departmentInsurance vs. self-pay for counselingWhy women in the fire and police service may be more guarded than menScaling an embedded clinician model across multiple departmentsContact Jason Corthell, Asst. Chief: Freedom Found: A Mental Health Memoir on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Found-Mental-Health-Memoir-ebook/dp/B0H1D92RHK Ironclad Wellness: https://ironcladwellness.com Don’t miss EMS Fire Pro Expo. October 22 through 24. Mohegan Sun. Register today at https://emspro.org/ Contact Responder Resilience: Phone: +1 844-344-6655 Email: info@respondertv.com Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/ ★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★ • Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr • Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com • Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q This show is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, psychological, or professional treatment. Views expressed are those of the individuals, not any affiliated agency or organization. In an emergency, call 911. For mental health support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

  4. Oct 7

    S6 E40 25 Years Of Free, Confidential FDNY Care: Nancy Carbone Hands Off To Chrissy Neafsey

    Twenty-five years ago, Nancy Carbone walked into a Brooklyn firehouse and asked one question: what can I do for you? That question became Friends of Firefighters, a free, confidential, and independent mental health nonprofit for FDNY members and their families, built on trust decades in the making. In this episode, founder Nancy Carbone and incoming Executive Director Chrissy Neafsey talk about why confidentiality and independence from the department remain the organization's core promise, how the Aaron Clark Peer Support Team gets a struggling firefighter a call back within 24 hours, and the new partnership with Livestrong, including this year's 343-mile Ride for Resilience from Boston to Ground Zero and a culturally competent cancer resource guide for first responders facing occupational cancer. Friends of Firefighters marks its 25th Anniversary Resilience Gala on October 15, 2026. Learn more or get help: https://www.friendsoffirefighters.org Follow Friends of Firefighters: @friendsoffirefighters Don’t miss EMS Fire Pro Expo. October 22 through 24. Mohegan Sun. Register today at https://emspro.org/ Contact Friends of Firefighters: Website: http://www.friendsoffirefighters.org/ Gala Link: https://friendsoffirefighters.org/2026-gala Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendsoffirefighters Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendsoffirefighters/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/friends-of-firefighters/ Contact Responder Resilience: Phone: +1 844-344-6655 Email: info@respondertv.com Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/ ★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★ • Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr • Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com • Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q This show is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, psychological, or professional treatment. Views expressed are those of the individuals, not any affiliated agency or organization. In an emergency, call 911. For mental health support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

  5. Sep 30

    S6 E39 Veterans Turned First Responders: A Deeper Dive with Guest Dr. Stacy Raymond

    One of our most-downloaded episodes was our first conversation with Dr. Stacy Raymond, PsyD, on treating veterans who transitioned into first responder roles. This is the deeper dive. In this Clinician's Guide Masterclass, Dr. Raymond returns to go past the overview: distinguishing moral injury from PTSI, working with a veteran's military identity as it collapses or adapts, the real function of hypervigilance, and how to address firearms and suicide risk without breaking the therapeutic alliance.Required listening for clinicians treating this population, and for the veterans sitting in their chairs. Check out Part 1: Clinician's Guide to Working with Veterans (S4 E32): https://www.respondertv.com/s4-e32-clinicians-guide-to-working-with-veterans-with-guest-stacy-raymond-psyd/ Responder ResilienceFull archive: ResponderTV.com Join Thousands of First Responders at the EMS & Fire Pro Expo Oct. 21-24 at Mohegan Sun.  https://emspro.org/ Contact Dr. Stacy Raymond: Website: https://www.drstacyraymond.com/ Contact Responder Resilience: Phone: +1 844-344-6655 Email: info@respondertv.com Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/ ★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★ • Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr • Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com • Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q This show is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, psychological, or professional treatment. Views expressed are those of the individuals, not any affiliated agency or organization. In an emergency, call 911. For mental health support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

  6. Sep 23

    S6 E38 Firefighter AI Spots the Drift Before You Do with Guest Gary Roberts

    Nobody radios in "I'm not okay." You just push through the next call, and the one after that. Gary Roberts has pushed through calls for more than twenty years, as an active firefighter and paramedic in Fort Lauderdale. He's also built an AI company on the side, between shifts, on no sleep, because he got tired of watching guys wait too long to say something. His company is called Neurovus, and the AI agent is NAVI. It doesn't diagnose you. It doesn't talk to your chief. It watches what your wearable already tracks: sleep, heart rate variability, recovery, and tells you when you're drifting from your own baseline. Before you feel it. Before it becomes a problem with a name. We got into it with Gary: Why "resilience" might be the wrong word, and what it's costing usHow you sell an AI to a culture that doesn't trust apps, doesn't trust outsiders, and definitely doesn't trust anything that reports up the chainWhere a wellness tool stops and a medical device starts, and why that line mattersWhat winning actually looks like in five years, not in dollars Neurovus is a wellness awareness tool. It is not therapy, a diagnosis, or a crisis service.  Gary Roberts: Helping fire departments spot burnout before it becomes a crisis | 20 Years, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue | Founder & CEO, Neurovus | Built NAVI to track each firefighter’s drift from their own baseline Subscribe for more conversations on first responder mental health, leadership, and culture. Contact Gary Roberts: Neurovus: neurovus.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GRoberts.Neurovus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groberts_neurovus/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neurovus/ Contact Responder Resilience: Phone: +1 844-344-6655 Email: info@respondertv.com Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/ ★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★ • Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr • Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com • Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q #FirefighterMentalHealth #ResponderResilience #FirstResponders #Neurovus #FirefighterWellness #FirstResponderWellness #AIinHealthcare #PublicSafety #Firefighter #WearableTech This show is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, psychological, or professional treatment. Views expressed are those of the individuals, not any affiliated agency or organization. In an emergency, call 911. For mental health support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

  7. Sep 16

    S6 E37 Cultural Empathy vs. Competency: How Chief Manny Almaguer Actually Earns Trust

    Assistant Chief Manny Almaguer draws a distinction most fire departments have never heard: cultural competency and cultural empathy are not the same thing. One checks a box. The other earns trust. In this conversation, he breaks down what that difference actually looks like on the ground. Before he ever put on turnout gear, Almaguer spent years working in psychiatric institutions, and that background shapes everything about how he leads. In 26 years, he's held nearly every role in the Denver Fire Department and spent the last 15 as a national voice on first responder mental health, invited to speak at the White House, the Pentagon, and NATCON. In this conversation, Chief Almaguer covers: Cultural competency vs. cultural empathy, and why the distinction changes how training actually landsHis "kick the tires" audit: personally calling 988 and local recovery resources before recommending them to his crewHis definition of psychological safety, and how to explain it to someone who's never heard the termHow his years as a psychiatric nurse and technician transferred directly into fire service leadership and scene safetyThe story behind Denver Fire's 2013 mental health training program, and the 1,100+ members it reachedWhat a battalion chief or company officer needs to know at minimum to catch something earlySubscribe for more conversations on first responder mental health, leadership, and culture. Don’t miss EMS Fire Pro Expo. October 22 through 24. Mohegan Sun. Register today at https://emspro.org/ Contact Responder Resilience: Phone: +1 844-344-6655 Email: info@respondertv.com Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/ This show is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, psychological, or professional treatment. Views expressed are those of the individuals, not any affiliated agency or organization. In an emergency, call 911. For mental health support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

  8. Sep 9

    S6 E36 600+ FDNY Illness Deaths From 9/11 with Guest Ret. Deputy Chief Richard Alles

    Twenty-five years after 9/11, more than 600 FDNY members have died from Ground Zero-related illness, nearly double the number lost in the collapse itself. Retired FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Alles arrived 20 minutes after the second tower fell and spent nine months on-site. Today, as Director of 9/11 Community Affairs for Barasch & McGarry, he works full-time helping first responders and survivors access the WTC Health Program and Victim Compensation Fund. In this conversation, Chief Alles covers: What leadership looked like in the chaos of Ground Zero's first hoursHow detective James Zadroga's autopsy became the forensic evidence that passed the Zadroga ActThe current FDNY and nationwide illness death toll, now surpassing 9,000 across all WTC-related illnessWho qualifies for WTC Health Program and VCF benefits, and the exposure-hour requirements by dateWhy skin cancer, not respiratory illness, is the most common Ground Zero-linked conditionHis own two cancer diagnoses, and why he tells everyone with 9/11 exposure "it's not if you'll get sick, it's when"Subscribe for more conversations on first responder mental health, leadership, and culture.   YouTube: Responder Resilience Facebook: ResponderTV LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify: Responder Resilience Full archive: ResponderTV.com Contact Richard Alles: Website: https://www.post911attorneys.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaraschMcGarry/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baraschmcgarry/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/barasch-mcgarry/ Contact Responder Resilience: Phone: +1 844-344-6655 Email: info@respondertv.com Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/ This show is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, psychological, or professional treatment. Views expressed are those of the individuals, not any affiliated agency or organization. In an emergency, call 911. For mental health support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

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About

The job doesn't stop when the call ends. Neither does this podcast. RESPONDER RESILIENCE: real conversations with firefighters, police, EMS, dispatch, and the clinicians who serve them. Trauma. Leadership. Culture. Retirement. Our Clinician's Guide series and the book Helping the Helpers, built from over 200 of these conversations, go further: real insight for first responders and the clinicians who serve them. Hosted by Lt. David Dachinger (Ret.), Dr. Stacy Raymond, and Bonnie Rumilly, LCSW/EMT. New episodes weekly.

Information

  • Creator
    Lt. David Dachinger (Ret.), Dr. Stacy Raymond, Bonnie Rumilly, LCSW/EMT
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    249
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mind Health Media, LLC
  • Show Website
    Responder Resilience

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