Behind The Shield

Alex Jabr is a Paramedic, EMS Coordinator and the woman behind Emergency Resilience. In this second conversation we discuss the impact of loss of life during the pandemic, her PhD on Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy in the Fire Service, Ketamine myths, the successes Ketamine has had in PTSD, her own experience with this therapy and so much more.

Joe DiBernardo is a retired FDNY Deputy Chief and the President of the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation. We discuss his early life, serving as Army Reconnaissance in Vietnam, his road into the fire service, some of his many career calls, his son Joseph's path into the FDNY, the "Black Sunday Fire", losing his son in 2011, the importance of bail out equipment, the foundation and so much more.

Nicholas Seedsman is a former Australian SAS operator and the founder of the Warrior Refit Foundation. We discuss his early life in Australia, his journey into the Special Forces, his perception of war, traumatic brain injury, the crippling effects of autoimmune disease, mental health, the power of stem cell therapy, psychedelics, his non-profit and so much more.

Jason Bitzer is a Hawaii Ocean Lifeguard, author and the founder of "Never Off Duty". In this second conversation, we discuss the pandemic's impact on Oahu's beaches, tourism, understaffing, wave parks, proactive lifeguarding and his powerful perspective on his son's pediatric cancer diagnosis.

Beau Porter is a veteran Los Angeles firefighter and the man behind "Firefight Mentality". We discuss his multi-generational firefighting family, his own journey into the fire service, homelessness, addiction, gang violence, his powerful perspective on the pandemic, losing his best friend, his own mental health story, the genesis of his project and so much more.

Justin Brooks is a veteran lawyer, the founder of the California Innocence Project and the author of his new book "You might go to Prison even though you're Innocent." We discuss his early international life, his journey into law, the margins of error in the legal system, interrogation psychology, racial bias, plea bargains, some of his wrongful conviction cases and much more.

John Graham is a former British Army Paratrooper and member of 22 SAS. He is also known as his pen name John Geddes, the author of "Spearhead Assault" detailing his experience in the Falkland Islands War and "Highway to Hell" telling his military contracting story in Iraq. We discuss his early life in England, his journey into the military, serving in Northern Ireland, The Battle of Goose Green, war in the Middle East, contracting, close protection work, mental health, leadership and much more.

Luis Nevarez is a veteran firefighter who retired at the rank of chief. In 2002, he lost an arm in an electrocution at a house fire and fought to return to the profession he loved. We discuss escaping gang culture as a child, his journey into the fire service, firefigher fitness, leadership, the physical and mental rehbilitation journey, his perspecitve through the ranks, mentorship, the Phoenix Society and so much more.

Damian Porter is a former Australian special forces operator, police officer and current active duty firefighter. We discuss his early life in New Zealand, bodybuilding, his journey into the military, his perspective on war, the transition into law enforcement, entering the fire service, his new platform "The How not to Die Guy" and so much more.

Mark Watson spent the early part of his career in education before transitioning into cognitive rehabilitation. We discuss his own learning challenges as a child, his journey into teaching, physical education, traumatic brain injury, strokes, neuroplasticity, reahabilitation programming and much more.