Code One Support
Practical mental health tools for first responders and their families. Written by a firefighter, army veteran, and trauma peer support practitioner.
The difficult conversation ended. Your brain didn't get the memo.
THE HANDOVER. Hi Mate, Each week I share something practical for first responders and their families. The stuff that actually helps in real life, on station, at home, and at jobs. TL;DR (What this email is about) Replaying hard and emotionally difficult conversations after a shift isn't a thinking problem. It's your brain trying to resolve something it couldn't finish. Here's how to interrupt the loop. This week’s idea You're in the shower. Driving home. Lying in bed at 2am. And you're back...
Small things shouldn't hit this hard. Until they do.
THE HANDOVER. Hi Mate, One tool a week built around the realities of shift work, high stress, and everything this job leaves behind. No theory, no corporate wellness repackaging. Just something useful for people actually doing this work. TL;DR (What this email is about) Stress in this job doesn't usually arrive as one big wave. It builds quietly, shift by shift, until something small tips you over and you can't figure out why. This week’s idea Most first responders expect the big jobs to be...
Nothing’s wrong. So why doesn’t it feel right?
THE HANDOVER. Hi Mate, Been a couple of weeks. Good to be back in your inbox. Each week I share a simple, practical tool for first responders and their families. No theory. Just things that actually fit around shift work and real life. TL;DR (What this email is about) Sometimes there’s no obvious reason to feel off. No critical incident, no blowup, no single thing you can point to. But something still feels flat. This week is about that. This week’s idea Nothing major has happened lately. No...
This one is for the partners
THE HANDOVER. Hi Mate, Short, practical, and straight to the point. One tool a week for first responders and the people who live with them. TL;DR (What this email is about) Partners of first responders carry a stress load that nobody talks about. It's real, it compounds over time, and it deserves to be named. This week’s idea Most of what gets written about first responder mental health is written for the person doing the job. This week is for the person at home. If you're a partner or family...
You did everything right. It still sits wrong.
THE HANDOVER. Hi Mate, Each week I share a simple, practical tool for first responders and their families. No theory. Just things that actually fit around shift work and real life. TL;DR (What this email is about) Moral injury is what happens when you're forced to act against your values, or watch it happen and couldn't stop it. It's more common in this job than most people realise, and it rarely gets named. This week’s idea There's a specific kind of weight that some emergency service...
Nobody talks about this part
THE HANDOVER. Hi Mate, Each week I share a simple, practical tool for first responders and their families. No theory. Just things that actually fit around shift work and real life. TL;DR (What this email is about) It's rarely one bad shift. It's the weight of hundreds of ordinary ones that nobody ever debriefs. This week’s idea Everyone talks about the critical incidents. The bad jobs. The ones that stay with you. The calls you can still picture years later. And yes, those matter. But they're...
When the job follows you home — your family feels it too
THE HANDOVER. Hi Mate, Each week I share a simple idea or tool that helps with the realities of the job. Nothing complicated. Just practical things that fit around shift work, pressure, and unpredictable days. TL;DR (What this email is about) The stress you carry home from a shift doesn't stay with you. It lands on the people around you too, usually without anyone meaning it to happen. This week’s idea You come home flat, wound up, or just somewhere else entirely. You're not trying to bring...