Responder Resilience Podcast

09/18/2026

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09/16/2026

Assistant Chief Manny Almaguer draws a distinction most fire departments have never heard: cultural competency and cultural empathy are not the same thing. One checks a box. The other earns trust. In this conversation, he breaks down what that difference actually looks like on the ground.

Before he ever put on turnout gear, Almaguer spent years working in psychiatric institutions, and that background shapes everything about how he leads. In 26 years, he's held nearly every role in the Denver Fire Department and spent the last 15 as a national voice on first responder mental health, invited to speak at the White House, the Pentagon, and NATCON.

In this conversation, Chief Almaguer covers:

• Cultural competency vs. cultural empathy, and why the distinction changes how training actually lands
• His "kick the tires" audit: personally calling 988 and local recovery resources before recommending them to his crew
• His definition of psychological safety, and how to explain it to someone who's never heard the term
• How his years as a psychiatric nurse and technician transferred directly into fire service leadership and scene safety
• The story behind Denver Fire's 2013 mental health training program, and the 1,100+ members it reached
• What a battalion chief or company officer needs to know at minimum to catch something early

Subscribe for more conversations on first responder mental health, leadership, and culture.
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Full archive: ResponderTV.com

Don’t miss EMS Fire Pro Expo. October 22 through 24. Mohegan Sun. Register today at https://emspro.org/

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★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr
• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com
• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

09/15/2026

"It's not a question of if you're going to get sick. It's when."

Ret. FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Alles isn't being dramatic, he's talking to anyone with 9/11 exposure. You can live the healthiest lifestyle possible and it still won't cancel out that exposure. His message is simple: stay on top of your health, go to the doctor, don't brush it off.

And he points out something first responders know better than anyone: we're excellent at taking care of everyone else, and terrible at taking care of ourselves.

Watch the full conversation on Responder Resilience:
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/UlxPrAHHYjY
🌐 All episodes: https://www.respondertv.com/
🔗 Full post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/daviddachinger_fdny-firstresponders-responderresilience-activity-7503882536272617472-KygU

#911

09/15/2026

Assistant Chief Manny Almaguer doesn't hand his crew a pamphlet.

Before he'll recommend a mental health resource to anyone under his command, he calls it himself. 988. Local AA meetings. Community programs. He wants to know what someone's actually walking into before he sends them there, and that's not a policy, it's a habit he built from years working inpatient psychiatric units before he ever put on turnout gear.

In this episode of Responder Resilience, Chief Almaguer walks through that "kick the tires" audit, and draws a distinction most departments have never made: cultural competency versus cultural empathy. One checks a box. The other builds the kind of trust that gets someone to actually pick up the phone.

If you lead people, in the fire service or anywhere else, this one will change how you think about earning trust before someone's in crisis.

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09/14/2026

"The pH of the toxic dust was the equivalent of Drano."

Ret. FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Alles breaks down why skin cancer, not respiratory illness, is the #1 cancer in the 9/11 community, and why every 9/11-exposed responder needs a full-body skin check they might not know to ask for.

▶️ Watch now:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/UlxPrAHHYjY
All episodes: https://www.respondertv.com/
Full post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/daviddachinger_fdny-firstresponders-responderresilience-activity-7503882536272617472-KygU

#911

09/12/2026

In 2006, NYPD Detective James Zadroga died of pulmonary fibrosis. He was a 9/11 responder.

His family agreed to something incredibly difficult: an autopsy, so the cause could be documented. What they found became the forensic evidence that changed everything: ground glass, heavy metal, benzene, chromium, silica, asbestos. A perfect toxic brew, sitting in his lungs.

That evidence is the reason the Zadroga Act exists. It's the reason thousands of first responders now have healthcare and compensation they wouldn't have otherwise.

Ret. FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Alles tells the full story on this episode of Responder Resilience.

Watch the full conversation:
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/UlxPrAHHYjY
🌐 All episodes: https://www.respondertv.com/
🔗 Full post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/daviddachinger_fdny-firstresponders-responderresilience-activity-7503882536272617472-KygU

#911

09/12/2026

[The Fire Is Out. The Exposure Is Not.] That moment, after the visible fire is out, may be one of the most dangerous parts of a firefighter’s day.

The photo looks like a win. The fire is knocked down, the crew is tired and proud, and someone snaps a picture for the department’s social feed. Helmets

09/11/2026

[The fight for the health of 9/11 first responders] A quarter century after 9/11, the health of those who responded to the attacks continues to be affected.

More than 96,000 have been diagnosed with physical and mental health conditions related to the attacks.

09/10/2026

[Who Are You When the Helmet Comes Off?] What happens to your identity when the job that defined you changes?

This episode of Mental Health Monthly takes a look at firefighter mental wellness and identity after service.

09/09/2026

Twenty-five years after 9/11, more than 600 FDNY members have died from Ground Zero-related illness, nearly double the number lost in the collapse itself. Retired FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Alles arrived 20 minutes after the second tower fell and spent nine months on-site. Today, as Director of 9/11 Community Affairs for Barasch & McGarry, he works full-time helping first responders and survivors access the WTC Health Program and Victim Compensation Fund.

In this conversation, Chief Alles covers:

•What leadership looked like in the chaos of Ground Zero's first hours
•How detective James Zadroga's autopsy became the forensic evidence that passed the Zadroga Act
•The current FDNY and nationwide illness death toll, now surpassing 9,000 across all WTC-related illness
•Who qualifies for WTC Health Program and VCF benefits, and the exposure-hour requirements by date
•Why skin cancer, not respiratory illness, is the most common Ground Zero-linked condition
•His own two cancer diagnoses, and why he tells everyone with 9/11 exposure "it's not if you'll get sick, it's when"

Subscribe for more conversations on first responder mental health, leadership, and culture.
YouTube: Responder Resilience
Facebook: ResponderTV
LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify: Responder Resilience
Full archive: ResponderTV.com

★ Resources for Responder Wellness ★

• Fitness: FightCamp (code RESILIENCE for 10% off) http://joinfightcamp.com/rr
• Free App: CRACKYL http://crackyl.respondertv.com
• Book: Helping the Helpers https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q

#911