Firefighter mental health in small bites with Sheena Glover

If you’ve ever known a firefighter who committed suicide, you know how it can change your life.

It may have come as a complete surprise to you. Or maybe you had been worried about the firefighter’s state of mind.

A lot has been said and written about what we can do to prevent suicide.

But today, we’re going to talk about a program designed to help you intervene in another firefighter’s emotional crisis before it becomes a fatal one.

It’s called “Small Bites.” Because that’s how you fix an elephant-size problem…one small bite at a time.

The program was developed by Sheena Glover. She is a captain with the Omaha, Nebraska Fire Department. She’s a 15-year veteran and holds several specialty ratings. Sheena is just the fourth Black female in the history of the department. It’s called “Small Bites.” Because that’s how you fix an elephant-size problem…one small bite at a time.

The program was developed by Sheena Glover. She is a captain with the Omaha, Nebraska Fire Department. She’s a 15-year veteran and holds several specialty ratings. Sheena is just the fourth Black female in the history of the department.

Sheena’s email address: [email protected]

What participants will learn from this program:

PURPOSE
This course is intended for anyone working in an environment that requires
him or her to interact with others, regardless of the capacity of those
interactions. The goal is to help teams/crews plan, implement and evaluate
risk-reduction strategies to better serve themselves first. The course features the role of the officer/manager as an inspirational leader for the
strategic risk-reduction cause.

Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
● Better identify problems and utilize effective communication to
proactively and therapeutically seek an approach for change and
resolution in the matter.
● Participants will have the skills to break down and assess a
conversation into smaller goals/segments to give manageable
solutions to individuals in crisis.
● Define and identify his or her community and assess his or her role to
said community on a micro- and macro-level

● Implement action steps to be an asset to said Community.
● Identify course rationale and explain the meaning of the Small Bites
course
● Acknowledge his or her role in identifying risks/symptoms of
problems early
● Demonstrate how to proactively resolve identified issues through
professional dialogue, planning, and action.
● Visualize and understand his/her/their role as a community
● Accept personal responsibility for leading risk reduction and inclusion
at the company level.
● Describe the methods to be used to implement this change into an
agency
● Understand course completion requirements and student
responsibilities.
● Explain the importance of leadership in the strategic risk-reduction
process
● Demonstrate how to successfully initiate difficult conversations
● Use causal chain analysis to explore the root causes of incidents
● Discover innovative strategies for delivering risk reduction within the
service area
● Determine interventions that are appropriate for their community
using the five E’s.
● Articulate the role of strategic community risk reduction in fostering
safe, healthy, and resilient communities.
● Develop a problem statement and goal for a prioritized risk issue.
● Develop a risk reduction action plan targeting a specific risk issue
within the service area.
● Distinguish how risk reduction supports provider health, wellness
and safety.
● Assess attitudes about self, personnel and their organization toward
mental health/suicide/diversity and inclusion.
● Analyze how organizational culture impacts mental health.
● Explore potential challenges to the risk reduction efforts specific to
the target community.
● Propose solutions to potential future challenges.