[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]It’s that time of year when many of us air out the house, clear out the clutter and do a top-to-bottom cleaning. Spring cleaning probably dates to the ancient Jewish...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Public safety has always been a stressful career. But over the past few years, there’s been increased recognition about the mental and emotional stress police officers,...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]With all the focus on cardiac health and cancer prevention in the fire service, it can sometimes seem that protecting ourselves requires battling complex, pervasive medical...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]In my last article, I shared some insights I gained about firefighter post-traumatic stress (PTS) from Jeff Dill of the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA). But...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]How do law enforcement officers end up chronically stressed, burned out and suffering from compassion fatigue? Why do so many officers fail to take care of themselves...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]When I was a supervisor in the fire department, my crews had a nickname for me: The Red Man. I embraced the moniker to some degree and I would joke with them, “Don’t make...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Windham v. Harris County, (5th Cir. 2017) William Windham, a medical doctor, ignored his own doctor’s medical advice to not drive and then drove his car into the rear of...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Last month, fire service leaders came together for what could arguably be called the most important conference of the year. And yet, it had no hands-on training, no huge...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Human beings, regardless of training and experience, are not robots. They have unique physical attributes, states of health and life experiences that shape the context in...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Police officers are often exposed to more stress and trauma in one shift than some people may experience in a lifetime. Natural disasters, serious accidents, intentional...
[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Nearly 80 percent of law enforcement officers have experienced an on-the-job “near-miss” event that they attribute at least in part to sleep deprivation or fatigue. That’s...
Last year I moved my family to the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix. Let me tell you, it’s HOT here! As I write this, it is 106 degrees outside; with 22% humidity, it feels like 108. I am grateful to be sitting in an air-conditioned house, but I am thinking about our...
