BKD: Newburgh

01/19/2026

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

08/07/2025

Oof, watching this is like barrelling toward a car wreck in slow motion. Stress and burnout are real things on the job, but lashing out at a patient is never the answer. Anyone who has worked in EMS has seen it. Unfortunately, incidents like this are almost always the last stop on a rough road to getting help. There are definitely more opportunities before this happens to take an exit ramp off instead of speeding down that highway towards the inevitable crash.

Being a professional first responder takes a significant toll, of that there is no doubt. Caring for others is often prioritized over caring for ourselves. Part of that profession, though, is knowing when you need help managing the strain. I promise you, talking with an experienced provider beforehand is a whole lot less painful than watching yourself become the one doing harm!

458K likes, 16.1K comments. “This is how North Babylon Fire Department talks to a 10-year-old little girl in crisis. She was scared, having a mental health emergency—and instead of compassion, she was berated, told shut the f*ck up you little b*tch by a grown man in uniform. Suffolk County Polic...

07/28/2025

Implementing a culture of mental health safety amongst first responders can seem daunting, but it's not as difficult as you may think. Not sure hot get started? Just ask!

Post traumatic stress is a normal reaction to abnormal experiences such as violent death, assault, and high-stakes situations. It becomes a Disorder with a capital D when left unrecognized and untreated. The historical culture of first responders to, "Suck it up," is now being followed, "Go get help if you need it." This is progress but not the whole story. It's the cognitive dissonance of telling your people it's ok to need assistance, just go do it on your own away from us.

Where I've seen leadership fail is not realizing that there are effective policies they can put into practice to help colleagues before that natural stress grows into a disorder.

There's no reason that mental health and resilience building shouldn't be as rigorously trained on as BLS/ALS or firefighting skills. This starts at the ground level, with first line supervisors. Good or bad, leaders set the tone.

Explore the rising mental health crisis in EMS post-pandemic, its root causes and strategies for building resilience and systemic support.

03/25/2025

Do you want to help veterans and first responders in the Hudson Valley get the help they need? Then help us help them by filling out this quick survey! Your input can help narrow down what's most important to getting these folks the care they need, tailoring services to those who serve us. All responses are anonymous.

You don't even have to be a vet, EMT, firefighter, or law enforcement to participate. We want to hear from their friends and families, too!

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

01/09/2025

If you find yourself asking, "Do I need therapy," you definitely need therapy.

www.bkdnewburgh.com

Be Present.Know Yourself.Do well. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” - James Baldwin   Discover the heart of our mission Life comes at us fast. In today’s world, information has never been more available or overwhelming. Anxiety, depre...

11/11/2024

Happy Veterans Day! It's a day to honor and thank all those who have served in the U.S. military for their sacrifice and dedication. Do you have any particular veterans in your life you'd like to remember or celebrate today?

11/04/2024

Thanks so much to Kate at Wall Radio for having me, and the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, NY for putting me in touch with her to tell the BKD story!

10/28/2024

Happy National First Responders Day!

10/28/2024

We all get stressed out! Here's a few simple things you can do in the moment to help relax.

09/25/2024

This is beyond frustrating. I saw the alert come through the Rover app about someone in the river, only to later find out a young man from the local area had committed su***de. Apparently he worked in the community's EMS system. While my heart goes out to his colleagues, my anger at yet another needless death is off the charts. What's it going to take to change our approach to mental health?

We must collectively get past the point of telling people who are in emotional pain that THEY need to be the ones who reach out for help. That's not how suicidality works!

Here is the harsh truth: asking someone in that deep of a psychological hole to be the one to initiate a conversation does nothing. It is up to YOU to reach out, to ask how THEM what the need. Not the other way around.

I know this works because I've done it with dozens of veterans and transitioning service members, often on the phone over hundreds of miles away. It starts with a simple question:

"Are you thinking about su***de?"

Trust me, it works. Every. Damn. Time. It may feel awkward and hard to get over your own discomfort. Tough s**t, get over it.

What's harder, having an uncomfortable conversation with someone thinking about killing themselves or having an uncomfortable conversation with their family at the funeral when you could have been the difference.

We can no longer make excuses for not doing something.

-Dan

NEWBURGH – State Police have identified the man who jumped off the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge on Tuesday morning as Ryan Franolich, 34, of Clinton. Troopers said investigation determined a passerby saw him jumping from the bridge and reported it to the New York State Bridge Authority at around 6:50 a....

09/11/2024

As FB swells with posts and memes to never forget, it's important to talk about those who can't forget.

343 firefighters lost their lives that day. That means there are 343 families out there still reeling from their loss.

23 NYPD officers perished, as well as 49 law enforcement officers from other agencies.

It is estimated over 130,000 EMTs, Paramedics, and other first responders were also witness to the attacks and subsequent body retrieval over the following weeks. It estimated over 10,000 of them reside in NYS.

The World Trade Center Registry reports that as of March this year, 22,450 registrants have at least one mental health diagnosis related to 9/11. The most common is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Assuming the average cost for a private pay therapist as $100/hr, providing just ONE individual session for every single member of the Registry would cost $2,245,000.

The average pay for an EMT in New York is $18-$20 an hour. Paramedic is around $25/hr. You do the math.

As we mourn those we lost, let's also do something to get help for those who spend every day unable to forget.

(All data per WTC Health Program Registry)

BLUF*: Stop saying Thank You For Your Service and do something … Daniel Gorman needs your support for Support BKD Newburgh: Free Mental Health Care for Heroes

09/02/2024

In the military, whenever someone was embarking on a larger goal, we'd say, "Aim for the 25 meter target." That means focusing on the short term thing that needs to be done first in order to hit that larger goal.

Right now, we're $25 short of $4k. So we're making that today's 25 meter target! (25, 25... see what we did there?)

Just a couple of bucks and YOU can help us aim at the next target of 1/3 funded!