In this episode, we interview Jennie Babcock & Paul Gabrial of the Plymouth County Suicide Prevention Coalition.

Jennie & Paul share valuable information about suicide prevention, reduction, awareness, the education they provide through their coalition, & what led them to to do the work that they do.

Retired Fire Chief David Rhodes joins us on the podcast.

David is a 39 year veteran of the fire service retired from the Atlanta Gorgia fire dept. He currently works for Clarion events as the Vice President of Education for Clarion Fire Rescue Brands, he is the Editor in Chief for Fire Engineering Magazine, and the educational director for the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC). He is a Chief Elder for the Gorgia Smoke Divers Program, served on the Fire Department Instructors Conference Executive Advisory Board, was the hands on training coordinator at the FDIC Conference, and author for Fire Engineering Magazine and Fire Apparatus and Equipment Magazine. Chief Rhodes has served as an adjunct instructor for the Gorgia Fire Academy, and is an advisory board member emeritus for Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Research Institute , and current board member of the Firefighter Air Coalition. He has served as an incident commander for the Gorgia Emergency Management Agency, Type 3 all Hazards Incident Management Team, and was a task force leader for the Gorgia Search and Rescue Team.

Chief Rhodes discusses his career, shares his knowledge, experience, and thoughts on the importance of educating and training first responders about the hazards and impacts of interacting with trauma.

Our guest on todays podcast is Marchelle Farmer

In September of 2023, at the age of 57, Marchelle met the love of her life, Scott Farmer. They both knew right away that what they had was special, and were married in February of 2024- on Scott's 57th birthday.

By May of 2025 Marchelle was making funeral arrangements.

Her husband, retired K-9 Sergeant Scott Farmer, after 25 years of service and 3 years of retirement - lost his internal battles with PTS. Scott died by suicide in the early morning ofMay 16, 2025.

Just the afternoon before Scott had told Marchelle - "You're going to be fine. They like you there." Maybe he was encouraging her about her fairly new job, or maybe hemeant something else. A little over a year later, Marchelle is not fine. She struggles regularly.

Gradually, and with much effort she is learning her way out of the dark pit of trauma and grief that she was thrown into following Scott's suicide.

During her own healing process - Marchelle recognized that suicide did not process Scott's trauma or heal his pain. His trauma and pain was mutated and transferred to her. While pursuing her own healing, she chooses to honor the amazing, beautiful man, officer, friend and husband - - known simplyas Farmer - by sharing their story, with the hope that others will be motivated to seek their own healing.

Charlie's work in Critical Incident Stress Management began around the time of its inception, he then started on the Boston fire metro team in 1998, he has provided CISM and peer support throughout the northeast united states, and he is currently a working Clinician at On-Site Academy, and the co-coordinator of the statewide peer support network here in the commonwealth.

In this episode - Charlie speaks openly about mistakes he made throughout his career in the fire service – including the amount of hours that he worked for years on end – he shared this message and many others in order to help the next generation of first responders avoid some of the mistakes in their careers that he made in his own. Additionally – Charlie spoke about some of his own critical incidents – he spoke about structure fires, including one that resulted in a fatality early on in his career – the cultural response to that in those days, which was to drink until you felt better – he spoke openly about how those incidents affected him, how something inside him demanded that there must be a better way to manage critical incident stress – and how as the years went on Charlie came to realize that it is oftentimes the constant grind of duty, response, responsibility, and how we respond internally to those and other components of the job that takes the largest toll on our emergency responders.

Currently - Charlie works as a clinician at On Site Academy – an organization we hold in the highest regard – and consider as the gold standard of treatment for first responders.

Andrea Tarrant joined us on the podcast. Andrea - a cops daughter turned first responder herself - discusses the personal and professional trauma(s) she has been exposed to throughout her life, she shares about her experiences with grief, loss, critical incidents, and life transition. Andrea got her start dispatching in Plymouth Ma, she then began working in Weymouth Ma, the community her father had spent a career policing, and currently dispatches 911 with the Old Colony Communications Center in Duxbury Ma. She is also an active member of the Plymouth County CISM team and wellness advocate within her organization.

On this episode we're joined by Alicia Kelly & Chuck Looney, who own and operate Stretch N Motion, an assisted stretch and massage studio where they aim to maximize mobility, decrease pain, and help their clients feel better. Alicia & Chuck brought 2 of those clients with them, Brian Mingolelli (Quincy FD) & Chris Huling (Wildland FF), who share their own experiences about how this program has helped to improve their physical and mental well-being. Alicia & Chuck also share why they are each passionate about this work, discuss some of the ways that trauma is stored in the body, and explain how the methods they use can help their clients release stress, tension, & trauma.

As mentioned in the episode - They do offer First Responder Discounts!

Chief Hanrahan joined the Watertown Police Department in 1997 after serving in the military and as a police officer in New Hampshire. After spending some time in the Patrol and Traffic Divisions, Chief Hanrahan was promoted to Sergeant in 2000 and later promoted to Lieutenant in 2002 where he oversaw the departments training, policy development, and community policing activities. After serving as a Lieutenant for 21 years, Chief Hanrahan was promoted to Captain on January 2, 2023 where he oversaw the department’s 911 emergency communications operations as well as the department’s Patrol and Traffic divisions. He was promoted to Chief of Police on November 30, 2023. In addition to serving as Chief of Police, Chief Hanrahan is also an attorney who teaches police officers and police supervisors throughout the Commonwealth in the areas of criminal law and criminal procedure, as well as many other topics such as critical incident management and domestic violence. Chief Hanrahan has a Bachelor’s degree in Law Enforcement, a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice and a Juris Doctorate Degree in Law.

Sean Peterson is a SGT with the Taunton Police Dept., a licensed mental health clinician, and director of the South Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Councils Critical Incident Stress Management Team. Sean is also a former gym owner, a proven strength coach, and published author who has been an outspoken advocate for the mental health of the law enforcement community.

In this episode Sean talks about his pathway into policing, how he came to begin helping the helpers, shares what it was like when he began to struggle himself, how difficult it was for him to seek help during that time, and what he's learned along the way.