bri cameron.

Mental Fitness Trainer: Department Engagement and Crew Connection.

Captain, Peer Support Specialist

I’ve spent most of my career on one side of a radio or the other.

I’ve been the Dispatcher sending help, the EMT/Firefighter showing up when called, the instructor preparing people for the next call, the officer responsible for the people on the truck, and the peer supporter sitting with someone when the part nobody heard over the radio finally catches up with them.

For a long time, I thought being good at this job meant being able to carry a lot.

Be dependable. Stay calm. Figure it out. Take care of your people. Handle the call in front of you and be ready when the tones drop again.

What I’ve learned, though, is that being able to carry something doesn’t necessarily mean you should carry it alone.

Some of the most capable people I know in public safety are also incredibly good at convincing everyone, including themselves, that they’re fine. We can talk for hours about tactics, patient care, scene safety, leadership, and everything that went wrong on a call, while completely avoiding the question of what any of it actually did to us.

I don’t believe mental fitness is about making first responders “softer”. I think it’s about making us better equipped for a career that asks a lot from us. It’s learning how to recognize what we’re carrying, understanding why our brains sometimes do weird things after difficult experiences, knowing when to ask for help, and building skills before we desperately need them.

I also believe those conversations don’t always have to be heavy.

Sometimes the best conversations happen when we can laugh at ourselves, admit we don’t have everything figured out, and drop the expectation that anyone in this profession has to be bulletproof.

I’ve realized the part of this job I care about most isn’t just helping people become better first responders.

It’s helping first responders remember to take care of the person underneath the uniform too.