Tag: stigma

Tom and Tessa Dunn sit down with the firefighter deconstructed and talk about what it’s like to work as a resident police officer in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. Tom Dunn is the founder of RESET Training and Consulting. He is a recently retired Lieutenant for the Alaska State Troopers (May 2020) who served the citizens of Alaska for over 25 years and is an FBI National Academy graduate of session 253. During his career, he worked in many communities with rural and urban community diversity. He is a certified instructor in several law enforcement disciplines and is a current Mental Health First Aid instructor who has provided instruction at the Alaska State Trooper Training Academy and all over the State of Alaska. Tessa Dunn is the co-founder of RESET Training and Consulting. The mission is to teach first responders and their families, new ways to cope with trauma and exhaustion in the workplace. RESET also partners with staff and families of special needs children. Tessa’s role in RESET will be co-teaching the workshops for spouses of first responders and educators. She is the event organizer and the biggest smile in the room.
RESET Training and Consulting offers training in Resiliency, Engaging and Empowering Communities, Soul Care, Employee Retention and mental health Training.

www.resettrainingandconsulting.com
Tom & Tessa Dunn
907-299-6054
907-315-4077
resettrainandconsult@gmail.com

Eric Weaver is a retired sergeant with the Rochester, NY Police Dept., where he served for twenty years from 1985-2005. He was a police sergeant for the RPD for the last 13 years of his highly decorated career. Prior to his employment with the RPD, he served as a Corrections Officer from 1983-1985 with the Ontario County, NY Sheriff’s Department. While with the RPD, he served in numerous positions within the Department, including numerous patrol assignments, the Tactical Unit, the SWAT team, and Internal Affairs. Eric’s last assignment for the Rochester Police Department was as Mental Health Coordinator, and was the creator, developer, and Commanding Officer of the first Crisis Intervention Team in NYS. The CIT is a specialized unit within the RPD that responds to calls within the Rochester community for individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis. He continues to serve as a consultant with numerous police departments and their respective communities in NYS in the creation, development, training, and implementation of similar Crisis Intervention Teams, and has served as a leading consultant for the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services and NYS Office of Mental Health in developing CIT training throughout New York State. Eric is a consultant with the National Council for Behavioral Health, and serves as a National Trainer for the internationally recognized Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid programs. Eric served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Suicide Intervention Skills Trainer Consortium of New York, was a Depression and Bi-Polar Support Alliance’s (DBSA) group facilitator and a member of the DBSA National Speaker’s Bureau, and is currently a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)-NYS Consumer Affairs Committee. He also serves as a Peer Review consultant for SpecPro Management Services, LLC regarding police mental health training on a state and federal level. Eric is also former pastor and served for several years as the Executive and Counseling Pastor of Crosswinds Wesleyan Church in Canandaigua, NY. Eric holds a certificate in Biblical Counseling from the American Association of Christian Counselors.

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/eric-weaver-overcomingthedarkness
Website: www.overcomingthedarkness.com
Email: eric@overcomingthedarkness.com

Kristi Tausinga sits down with the firefighter deconstructed and talks about being a female cop, getting addicted and then unaddicted to painkillers. This woman is one strong lady! She was diagnosed with PTSD and survived a suicide attempt. And on top of all that, she was totally abandoned by her administration. She was sexually assaulted at work by a supervisor and then was written up for engaging in sexual activities while at work. Her passion now is to reach out to those who are suffering and to spread the word that there is help and to smash the stigma – it’s actually courageous to ask for help!!

Instagram: mile_marker_28
Cell phone: 928.586.8375
Safecall: www.safecallnowusa.org

THE Tom Satterly and his wife Jen sit down with the Firefighter Deconstructed. Who are these people? Well Tom spent 20 years in Delta Force, the most elite special forces unit there is. Tom is a legend even among other Tier One special operators. He was in the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down) and the capturing of Saddam Hussein. He survived incredible feats of war but he almost didn’t survive PTS. Who is Jen? The woman who stood by Tom and went through tough times helping Tom get to the other side. Now they both work non stop to help their brothers and sisters in the military and first responders who have PTS.
Jen Satterly spent three years as Director of Film and Photography with an elite military company and was fully embedded in Special Operation training missions. She is the Co-Founder and Chief of Programs of their nonprofit, All Secure Foundation, and speaking alongside Tom about the challenges that spouses and families deal with both during deployment and coming home.
Books:
All Secure by Tom Satterly
Arsenal of Hope: Tactics for Taking on PTSD, Together by Jen Satterly
https://allsecurefoundation.org/
www.tomsatterly.com

Super kind and fun Scott Medlin sits down with The Firefighter Deconstructed and talks about the toll the job takes and strategies to get and be healthy. Scott has 17 years of experience in the military and law enforcement. Scott shares his own struggles with mental health and addiction from trauma experienced while in combat in Iraq and on the job as a police officer. He has authored two books about health in law enforcement. He has a passion to help others and help stop the stigma and stop first responder suicides.
https://leomotivation.com/
www.facebook.com/scott.medlin.77
https://www.amazon.com/Scott-Medlin/e/B087QVZ26R?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000
Books: MENTAL HEALTH FIGHT OF THE HEROES IN BLUE and 101 HEALTH TIPS FOR POLICE OFFICERS.

Kaia Downing is married to Brad Downing, who was on last week. Kaia was a police officer for ten years and is now a parole officer. Kaia shares her story of being married to someone with PTSD. We discuss what it’s like raising children when your spouse is angry, irrational, and detached. Kaia has the unique understanding of what it’s like to be a police officer and be the spouse of one. This discussion is a very good one and I am sure many many spouses and families out there will relate and find that they are not alone.
firefighterdeconstructed.com
Movie: The Female Brain

Retired police officer Brad Downing was a long time “stuff it” guy and never talked about his feelings. He suffered in silence because of that stupid stigma that can be attached to someone when they ask for help. Brad talks about how stuffing it affected his job, his family and himself. He now works to smash that stigma and let others know it’s ok not to be ok. He has started up a first responder support meeting that provides a safe place for first responders to talk.

Rob Hindley is a Medically retired police officer from the United Kingdom. He went through PTSD twice and speaks to how getting PTSD the second time is even worse than the first time. Rob now works to prevent police suicide and promote police physical and medical wellbeing. He has started peer support groups. We talk about PTSD and the effects it can have on the kids. We also talk about the lack of leadership in this important area and how struggling officers are not being taken care of in all the aspects of a person’s life. He is writing a book highlighting the high price that police officers pay when serving the public.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-hindley-98796b13b/

Bill Pepitone, City of New York Mayoral Candidate and former New York Police Officer, sits down with The Firefighter Deconstructed and talks about the heavy toll police work takes on officers and their families. He is a big, strong, tough guy born and raised in the Bronx and HE says it’s ok to not be ok. He says it’s so important to ask for help before you get the point of suicide. If a long time police officer from New York says it’s not weak to be affected by the job and ask for help, then you know it’s ok to not be ok.
https://billpepitonefornycmayor.com/
www.facebook.com/Bill-Pepitone-for-NYC-Mayor-110127470736990/
https://poppanewyork.org/

Former Dispatcher Ryan Dedmon sits down with the Firefighter Deconstructed and talks about his co-worker’s suicide and his own downward spiral. And most importantly, how he climbed back out of it. Ryan is a great speaker and has important information that will help all first responders. He now trains dispatchers and is the Outreach Director for the 9-1-1 Institute, The 9-1-1 institute works to bridge dispatchers with qualified local mental health professionals to be sure they get the help they need. The Institute now includes a team of experts who create uniquely qualified 911 education and consulting services to support the health and performance of our Very First Responders here in North America and abroad.