Leading Public Safety Workplace Mental Health, Across the Lines with Dr. Ed Sherman

We’ll continue our National Fire Prevention Month focus on this episode with a twist. This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Ed Sherman, who has more than four decades of experience in fire /rescue, EMS, and law enforcement, in addition to his education in psychology. Conversations about psychological health and safety in emergency services can have a different cadence, mainly when focusing on the fire/rescue, EMS, or law enforcement experience. Though EMS, fire/rescue, and law enforcement personnel respond to some of the same incidents, emergencies, and disasters, they often walk away with different perceptions based on their roles and the work they are expected to do. The difference in their experience also results in different lasting impacts of these experiences. It is rare to find not only people who see these incidents from multiple perspectives but can add the view of someone who understands how these experiences impact how people think and act before, during, and after significant incidents and events. Dr. Sherman uses his unique perspective across the fire/rescue, EMS, and law enforcement lines when he works with leaders of various organizations, large and small, dealing with various issues, many of which have significant health and safety implications.