The Aging Well Firefighter

06/12/2025

I'm honored and very excited to be asked to share again this year!

This week we’re excited to highlight Roy Smalley, a firefighter and AEMT serving Mayville and North Fond du Lac. With nearly 15 years as a fitness, wellness, and stress-management coach, plus extensive experience in theater and public speaking, Roy brings a uniquely engaging teaching style to EMS education. His work has been featured in Wisconsin Fire Journal, Firefighter Nation, and other publications.

At the 2026 WEMSA Conference & Expo, Roy will be leading two exciting sessions:

Beyond Patient Care: Harnessing AI to Revolutionize EMS Operations

Friday, February 6 | 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM

Explore how AI can reshape EMS operations, from decision-making to daily workflows. This interactive session walks through five key areas where AI can streamline processes and improve service delivery, with hands-on activities that help attendees connect real-world challenges to practical AI-driven solutions.

Stage Presence on Scene: How Theater & Public Speaking Skills Can Transform EMS Leadership

Saturday, February 7 | 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM

Learn how tools from theater, such as voice, posture, and presence, can enhance communication and leadership on scene. Roy will guide participants through exercises that build confidence, improve teamwork, and strengthen patient interactions using techniques rooted in performance and public speaking.

Learn more about the Conference here: www.WEMSAExpo.com

22/10/2025

“Support doesn’t mean having the perfect words. It means showing up.”

In Episode 2 of my series "Connection is Medicine", counselor & Columbus Fire Dept. Health and Safety Officer Mollie Kallas shares why listening matters more than fixing — and how simple connection keeps first responders grounded and resilient.

Relationships are Emotional Turnout Gear.

🔗 Listen + show notes: www.AgingWellFirefighter.com or wherever you catch podcasts.

18/10/2025

Firefighter × Counselor × Advocate = Mollie Kallas.

In this episode she joins me to talk about how peer support, honest conversation, and simple check‑ins can close the gap between “toughness” and true resilience.

Mollie’s dual perspective—clinical supervisor by day, firefighter by night—shows exactly why connection is our strongest protective gear.

🎧 Listen now at the link here, or wherever you catch podcasts → https://www.agingwellfirefighter.com/p/relationships-emotional-turnout-gear

15/10/2025

We train hard, track our biometrics, and measure readiness by physical standards. But there’s another kind of fitness that often gets left out of the conversation: social fitness.

My latest article explores the idea that "Relationships are Medicine", and the evidence showing that the quality - not quantity - of our social connections predicts longevity better than any fitness screening or lab test could.

From firefighters to families, our strongest protection isn’t found in a lab or a supplement. It’s found in the ways we show up for each other consistently and honestly.

Connection isn’t soft; It’s science.

Read more at the link below.

Relationships Are Medicine: How Connection Protects the Brain, Body, and Soul

12/10/2025

Loneliness isn’t just an emotional ache, it’s a physiological hazard.

Research shows that chronic disconnection can harm your health as much as smoking 15 ci******es a day.

In the first podcast episode of my new series exploring the link between loneliness and longevity, I share two true stories — one about AJ, a brilliant but isolated coworker, and another about Ed, a 90‑year‑old client thriving through family connection.

Together they reveal how relationships can affect not only how LONG we live, but how WELL we live.

If you’ve ever poured everything into the job until nothing’s left for connection, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now at www.agingwellfirefighter.com or wherever you catch podcasts.

Then share it with someone who might need the reminder that people keep people alive.

08/10/2025

Loneliness quietly does what smoke and fire can’t: it burns us from the inside out.

This week in part 1 of my new series, "Connection Is Medicine", I share the true stories of two men — AJ & Ed — that show how real connection keeps us strong, in body and in spirit.

Catch Ed's story in today's article, linked here. I'll recall AJ's story this weekend on The Aging Well Firefighter podcast.

Alone in a Crowded World: Why Loneliness Is a Health Risk We Can’t Ignore

04/10/2025

The hardest part isn’t always the fall itself. It’s what comes after.

The loss of confidence.
The fear of “what if it happens again.”
The exhaustion of caregivers trying to hold everything together.

In the final episode of my Gravity Never Sleeps series, I talk with Lisa Fleischer, former owner of Senior Helpers, about the unseen side of falls: how caregiving, hospice, and palliative care can preserve independence, rebuild confidence, and redefine what it means to age bravely.

This conversation isn’t just about caregiving.

It’s about courage, compassion, and the small acts of support that hold lives and families together.

Listen to "The Aging Well Firefighter" on your favorite podcast platform, or right here → https://www.agingwellfirefighter.com/p/the-gravity-of-care?r=2egovz

01/10/2025

It’s rarely the broken bone that changes everything… it’s the broken confidence.

After a fall, many older adults stop walking as much, avoid stairs, or skip social events. Muscles weaken. Balance worsens. Independence erodes.

This confidence spiral doesn’t just shrink one person’s world - it pulls families and caregivers in, often leaving everyone exhausted and uncertain about the next step.

In the final article of my Gravity Never Sleeps series, I explore why falls can ripple far beyond the moment of impact and how caregiving, honest conversations, and the right support systems can rebuild resilience.

👉 Read the full article here (and stay tuned for a series finale podcast episode coming this weekend):

The Hidden Aftershocks That Can Shatter Confidence, Independence, and Families

01/10/2025

The ADRC needs a few more people to register for this FREE class!

⏰ Last call! We still need 6 more caregivers to join our upcoming Powerful Tools for Caregivers class. Without enough participants, we’ll have to cancel — and we don’t want that to happen!

Please sign up by Friday to save your spot and ensure the class can move forward. Give us a call at 920-386-3580 to register!

29/09/2025

Most conversations about fall prevention start and stop at “Just don’t fall.”
But in my interview with Dr. Eric Meyer, PT, DPT, owner of MVP Rehab & Sports Performance (recently named Best Rehabilitation Facility in Dodge County), we flipped the script.

We talked about:
🔹 Why learning to fall well is as critical as preventing a fall.
🔹 The overlooked skill of getting back up safely and confidently.
🔹 How confidence isn’t something you “have”; it’s a skill you can practice, just like strength or balance.

Falling isn’t failure. With the right training and mindset, it is survivable. Even transformative.

Listen to the full episode at AgingWellFirefighter.com

25/09/2025

We teach kids how to swim in case they fall in the pool. But what about ourselves?

Falls will happen. The secret is knowing how to protect your body and your confidence when they do.

👉 Read "Strong Enough to Fall" at www.agingwellfirefighter.com

19/09/2025

Loneliness can hurt your health as much as smoking 15 ci******es a day. 😳

And for older adults, that social isolation can turn a stumble into a serious fall.

That’s what I learned in my conversation with Brittany Borchardt of the Dodge County ADRC.

In Gravity Never Sleeps: The Hidden Hours of Falling, we look not just at why mornings, midnight bathroom trips, and post-hospital days are high-risk danger hours, but at how social factors make recovery harder.

Listen to "The Aging Well Firefighter" on your favorite podcast platform, or right here: https://www.agingwellfirefighter.com/p/gravity-never-sleeps-why-falls-cluster