The Things We All Carry

Andy Pantelis IAFF District 4 VP-MD

This week offer up my conversation with Andy Pantelis. Andy is the District Four vice-president for the IAFF. For those of you who are non-fire related listeners the IAFF is the international association of firefighters. Andy he was elected to his position in 2016 and he represented the local affiliates at Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and DC. Andy is also the president of Local 1619 Prince George's county, Maryland, as well as a battalion chief in Prince George's county. He's been with his department since 1997. We spent about an hour and a half, one morning speaking via zoom. The conversation ranges from mental health to retirement, to cancer prevention, with a few other topics scattered in there. This kind of conversation is helpful, but not exhaustive. We could've spent an episode alone on each topic. Perhaps a deeper dive into a few subjects is warranted in the future. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or comments concerning this episode or any other.     This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Ricky Nuttall - London

Ricky Nuttall is a London firefighter with one hell of a story. On June 14th, 2017, he was dispatched to a structure fire during the early morning hours. That fire turned out to be the deadliest fire in London since world war II. He joined over 250 other first responders to battle the blaze, a devastating blaze at Grenfell tower. Grenfell claimed the lives of 72 residents and injured over 70 more. Ricky shares his insights and his personal story of that night, as well as how it affected his mental health. Today, he uses that experience and his recovery in presentations to schools, fire departments, and prisons. Just to name a few. He is now a mental health advocate, focusing on raising awareness on the importance of social and workplace mental health and wellbeing. He'll be the first to tell you that he suffered from PTSD after Grenville. He was forced to make decisions that night that altered his life. Add to that childhood trauma and various other service-related traumas it combined to throw his life into a tailspin. He survived his battle with some very serious demons and he is here today to tell the story of recovery.Ricky coined the phrase, firefighters leave incidents, but incidents don't leave us. In other words.....these are the things we all carry.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

RyanSacMetro-CA

Welcome to Episode 71 of The Things We All Carry.It's been a couple months since I put out a call for people interested in doing an impromptu interview.This is another in that series of pop-up interviews.Ryan is a captain with SacMetro in California. He responded to my message and waited patiently as our schedule seemed to never align. Luckily we were able to sit down and record recently. Ryan shares his own story of trauma and recovery before discussing his work as a peer support coordinator in his department from deadly auto accidents to near misses on house fires we talk about how and why it affected him. Ryan also talks about his experience with EMDR as well as brain spotting.His goal with the peer support program centers on making certain other firefighters know they aren't alone and are made aware of all the resources available to them.We kind of joined this conversation as he and I are already rolling along. I never got to do my typical lead in for a guest but it seemed like the right thing at the time. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Robbie Reissue

One of the disturbing topics that Robbie and I discuss in this episode is how the insurance company is able to both deny his diagnosis of ptsd and then deny his application for life insurance based upon his diagnosis of P. T. S. D.You know that diagnosis..... they denied he had in the first place?This is but one example of how corporations treat individuals and are free to do as they please. Robbie's story should be alarming to all of us. The poor state of mental health awareness and care in our country is disturbing. It affects our country at a basal level which leads to a very universal effect.The state of our mental health care can be seen in our addiction rates, gun violence, homelessness, prison overcrowding, and so on.This conversation needs to be had and changes must be made.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Kathy-Last Call Foundation

Maya Angelou wrote in "Letter to My Daughter". "I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it."No person sums this up better than Kathy Crosby-Bell in 2014, Kathy experienced a tragedy that no mother should be exposed to. Her son, Michael Kennedy was killed in the line of duty. Michael a Boston firefighter was riding engine 33 on March 26th, 2014. He and Lieutenant ed Walsh were first due to a wind-driven fire in the back bay area of Boston. That fire claimed both of their lives.Kathy as a mother had every right to fall apart and have anger at the world.  In place of that. Kathy made it her goal to fight for the life safety of every firefighter. She founded the Last Call Foundation in Michael's memory. Michael and Lieutenant Walsh died in part due to a failed firehose. They never got the water they called for multiple times.Last Call started there… “Why isn't there a burn proof hose for firefighters? “That mission has now morphed into a battle with special interests and the NFPA. Kathy and Last Call have also expanded their interest into cancer detection, fighting PFAS, helping firefighters seek help for PTSD and offering grants for research in the realm of the fire service.Because Kathy refused to be reduced by the tragedy of Michael's death the entire fire service has and will benefit from her fight. I'm honored Kathy chose to share her story with me. She is a true inspiration and a testament to what we as humans can do when we harness our power and our tenacity. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Rescue_RD

I had the pleasure of speaking to Megan Lautz this week. Megan is a registered dietician and personal trainer. She works for Fairfax county here in Virginia and has her own personal practice as well. She's better known as  @rescue_RD on social media.  Megan has made it her ambition to help first responders with nutrition and the rigors of work in these jobs and shifts. According to her bio and her website."First responders face unique challenges. When it comes to health, these challenges have inspired me to create targeted realistic solutions through the life cycle of a first responders career. I thrive on translating complicated health information into manageable lifestyle changes to fit into an unpredictable shift."  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Kim-MN

Kim is a paramedic out of Minnesota with 10 years of experience. She started training for and qualifying as an EMT during high school and as soon as she was old enough, she began her career on the ambulance. She has seen more than her fair share of traumas, injuries and illnesses. And she has a distinct pleasure of being called a true black cloud. Unfortunately, Kim also experienced the horrors of an accident while driving the ambulance on duty and on a call. She shares her experience, recover and future plans with me.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

32EngineDC

Welcome to Episode 66 of The Things We All Carry. This is the second in a series of impromptu pop-up style interviews that I conducted a few weeks ago.  Chris and Dan joined me for a conversation from their firehouse in DC. 32 Engine is based in Southeast DC. And Chris is the wagon driver. Dan is a Lieutenant as well as being a member of his department's peer support team. Dana and I have interacted off and on via social media for a while now always seeming to almost cross paths. I appreciated the time to sit, have a conversation and at least put a voice to the name. The city was kind enough to give us an uninterrupted hour on a Saturday night. And I will tell you that Dan texted me the next morning to report they ended up running 20 calls that shift. Our conversation was unscripted and as impromptu as it gets. We hit on a variety of topics to include peer support, line of duty deaths, living and working in the chaos, and crew life. This audio will seem a little raw and I left it that way on purpose after all they were calling in from the bay of their firehouse while on shift. I felt that deserve to be heard that way. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Chris Torres FDNY/Next Rung/IGY6

Chris Torres is a firefighter with FDNY owner of IGY6 Fitness out of New York. He's also a peer support counselor for Next Rung, as well as Vice President and board member of Next Rung. Chris was generous enough to spend about 90 minutes of his valuable time talking to me and sharing his story. He was born and raised in New York city. He also played collegiate baseball in New York city. And then he found his way to the fire department shortly after college. We discussed both his professional and personal journey along the way. In addition, we talk about his work in the fitness realm and how he is trying to lead prospective firefighters to success. Chris opens up about the how and why he found it got involved with Next Rung as well as the role he currently plays in that organization. Chris brings a passion to everything he does in life. And it tends to be infectious. He's the kind of person who, after speaking with him inspires you to run head first into whatever brick wall may be in your path.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Michelle

Welcome to episode 64 of The Things We All Carry. I was doing some work for the show a couple of weeks ago, when an idea came to me. I had read about a pop-up farmer's market and thought the idea could be applied to an interview. Instead of planning out a show by speaking to and interview a guest prior to recording, why not do an impromptu pop-up style interview. Go into an interview, not knowing what's going to be said, not prepared and just have a conversation. The only question I had was who would want to do that? Who would want to give up an hour or so on a Saturday night to share their personal stories and, or traumas. Turns out when you ask people are more than willing to do just that. So I recorded two shows that Saturday and have a list of people interested in doing another round. Michelle was the first one to reach out to me after I posted. She and I have "spoken" a few times in the past via comments and messages on Instagram. So I knew a little of her life, but I knew nothing of what she shares in this episode.Michelle is a call taker for 911 service in the Southeastern United States. She shared her stories of childhood, marriage, divorce, and trauma from her job. I had no idea what to expect from this off the cuff conversation, but it definitely didn't disappoint.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com