Half of the time I have interviewed a first responder involved with FRAH, they were either on their way to or coming back from some form of community service. Over the course of these interviews, I have come to understand the first responder’s mindset as one that is geared towards community service and offering help. Highlighting this mindset this week is Michael Kaiser, a retired but nonetheless busy first responder who I was finally able to reach for a conversation late one night on his way home from a scouts meeting.
Michael started his career in the field as a volunteer firefighter before getting hired into FDNY as an EMT in 1987. He served his community faithfully through 9/11, became a Lieutenant in 2005, and continued serving until his retirement in 2018.
Nowadays, he focuses on the first responder mental health cause.
After his promotion to Lieutenant, mental health issues in the first responder community became far more apparent to him as people began approaching him more frequently with their own issues, or with concerns about their colleagues. It occurred to him that this process of helping people in the profession with their mental injuries was at best informal and at worst non-existent at many stations.
To remedy that, shortly before his retirement Michael took up a mental health advocacy role on a volunteer basis, as he recognized for someone in each station to be the support person for anyone that needs it. Michael has made it his personal mission to be available whenever someone needs help, 24/7.
He was quick to point out though, that his one-man operation cannot do it all and that each station should have someone or a team of people with the capacity to handle the mental health needs of that station.
Despite his volunteering with the scouts and taking care of his everyday life, Michael continues to work to ensure that mental health resources are allocated properly and to make sure that each new batch of graduating first responders gets the mental health teaching they deserve before entering the career.
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