Episodes
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We're back with another serious injury episode. Sabrina Cognata is a writer and producer who has survived multiple traumatic events, including: falling off of the roof as a kid, being held hostage by a neighbor after a hail of gunfire as a kid, & nearly dying in a car wreck that broke her neck. She tells us how a traumatic brain injury changed her personality & beating death shaped her decisions after the accident. We learn how trauma can start to feel normal to you. Whats it like finding out you were as close to being paralyzed as possible? Being nearly scalped going thru the windshield, having to recover for months at home, & then being determined to live life as hard as you can. Sabrina is super honest & funny & there are more shootings, trips to jail, drugs, car crashes & legal advice in this episode.
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We're joined by LA street journalist "Storm", the person behind the LA County Unleashed social media accounts providing live video of some of the craziest incidents on the LA streets any given night. We talk about the explosion of 911 incident content on social media, the role of Stringers and street jouranlists who show up to incidents, sometimes before the police arrive, film the incidents and sell the footage to the news stations. We talk about the dangers of showing up as a civilian to crime scenes, sometimes becoming part of the crime scene yourself. How firefighters decide whether or not to enter a dangerous scene without police. How one incident can lead to another, & what makes a person want to drive to dangerous active incidents just to inform their community. Then Storm and Danny recount a wild active shooter incident in Marina Del Rey that they were both on scene for & Storm was shot at multiple times, barely escaping the bullets and saving her dog, all while she was live on social media.
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Missing episodes?
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Meet Bubba Willis. Bubba is a retired LAFD Firefighter who has been fighting fires with the busiest companies since he was a 14 year old explorer in South Central LA. He rose thru the department, working with a slew of LA Firefighting legends, & landing on the first LAFD Urban Search and Rescue task force. Bubba becomes a USAR expert and instructor, which he does to this day. We hear about the LAFD in the 80's, what it was like to be fighting fires in high school, having to get a GED to take the LAFD exam because you were still in 12th grade, getting hired for 2 positions in the LAFD at the same time, learning from old timers, being cool to rookies, deploying to 9/11 & arriving to find out that the entire FDNY USAR team you trained with died in the World Trade Center collapse, deploying to mutliple hurricanes like Katrina & Ike, taking care of the search dogs, reverse Jenga for collapsed buildings, & how to teach urban search and rescue techniques without it being boring. Bubba is super cool & he also shares some memories of working with our dad back in the day & even calls him by his old nickname he hated. This is the episode youve been searching for.
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We talk to LAFD Firefighter Nathan Espinosa who survived a roof collapse on a major commercial structure fire as a first house rookie. We show video of the incident and you see why his crew assumed he didnt survive. Nathan tells us how he made it, the thoughts that went thru his mind after he fell thru the roof, & what kept him from giving up hope. He talks about how his training saved his life, & the aftermath of surviving a near fatal event, the PTSD, and how he overcame it. We also reminisce on what its like to grow up with your dad on the LAFD and then joining the department yourself. We talk about the drill tower, fireground operations, and what your first big fire is like as a rookie. Plus we cover the unique situation of crawling out of a burned building that everyone assumed you died in.
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We talk to LAFD firefighter, and host of the GRAB LIVES podcast, John Vargas. John goes deep into the holistic approach he takes to a firefighting career, health, and mental health. We talk about the stigma that existed surrounding mental health in the fire department and whats being done to change it. How changes in demographics led to changes in the department and changes in attitudes. John shares how his own injury and recovery path led him to try a different approach and seek the knowledge needed to heal himself. How unresolved stress can manifest itself into different physical ailments. We talk about the effectiveness of different therapies, up to and including Kambo and psychedelics. The ineffectiveness of other options like pushing emotions down, & drinking, & what it takes to admit that you need a change. John is a fascinating guy and really breaks down the physiology of stress and how different theraputic agents work in your body. We also learn what Grab lives means and how it applies to the fireground, and this approach to health. Listen to this & get regualted with us.
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We have LA County Firefighter/Paramedic Mike Anderson with us this week. Mike is the only Firefighter to appear on 2 different firefighter reality tv series, as a member of 2 different fire departments. Nearly 2 decades ago as a member of the Compton FD Mike appeared on BET's "First In". Then, after 15 years with Compton, Mike joins the LA County Fire Department & winds up being featured on NBC's "LA Fire & Rescue" produced by none other than Dick Wolf (dun dun). Mike tells was what its like to leave a small department from an "infamous"city to the biggest Fire Department in the west. What was it like to do 2 different drill towers, to get recognized in other states as the guy from that show, & what its like working a first in district in Ben's current neighborhood. Mike is really funny and shows us how taking a risk can pay off.
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We break down all of the Fire Department tv shows & movies of our lifetime. Scripted network tv shows from “9-1-1” to “Rescue Me” to “Emergency”. We tell you why things hit or miss & how dumb technical mistakes can ruin these shows for firefighters & paramedics. We tell you why the great ones are so great, & what would make a perfect show for us. Then we do the same thing with movies, we tell you which ones were the best & worst & why Backdraft is still the goat. We also talk about emergency driving & some disturbing trends Danny is seeing in the streets
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We talk about unexpected things in life, like more crazy airline incidents after our last airport episode, planes coming apart midflight, an earthquake on vacation, auto fire operations gone wrong, Danny's first fire, the Katt Williams interview, Hollywood child actor life, & Harvey Weinstein. Plus, Danny tells his "Weekend at Bernies" call story of a guy partying with his not alive friend for a while before calling 911, Ben gets bit by a dog, & we learn how to get banned from 911.
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We're joined by LAFD Firefighter Dan Meier, who joined the department at the ripe age of 48. Dan is super interesting & has worked literally every firefighting job you can think of: US Forestry, Bureau of Land Management, Air Force, dispatcher, Airport firefighter, aircraft firefighting instructor, & even the airport police. Dan tells us about working as a dual firefighter/policeman at the Ontario Airport, where he would work single shifts split between being a firefighter and being a cop. He worked with the DEA. He tells us how to spot people flying with drugs, what its like to work undercover, running into Snoop Dogg, responding to helicopter crashes, eridicating drug crops, landfills full of weed, aircraft firefighting, landing gear malfunctions, sliding down the rear chute, why you shouldnt wear high heels on a flight, older rookies, & more. This episode lands successfully.
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We come back after taking most of last year off & catch up on all kinds of stuff: Dannys pool, the economy, the good and bad of too much overtime, staffing crisises at both of our jobs, stacking PTO vs using it up, flunking a paramedic intern, open neck wounds, freezing on calls, what its like being a Fire Inspector, Grey's Anatomy, promoting vs being happy at work, missing your partner, real life Weekend at Bernies situations, the difference between co star, guest star, top of show guest star, & why it sucks to go back to co star, & finally, dog bites in unimaginable places. This is a good start to the new year.
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We’re back with a deep philosophical dive into focus on the job, how you view interactions with patients & coworkers, flow state on the fireground, holographic multiverse, aging, synchronicity, losing weight, how we got into fitness, Mexican psychic readings, zen philosophy, & the final update on Danny’s pool (it’s done).
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We're joined by Army Veteran, & veteran Fresno County paramedic Mario Torralva. Mario was enjoying the county fair with his wife and friends, when he began to feel ill. He rapidly got worse, & his wife called for help and had him transported (by his coworkers) to the nearest ER. Doctors assumed he had a stroke based on his symptoms, but all scans were negative. When Mario would improve and be close to being released home, he would suddenly become very ill again and was even transferred back to the ICU. Mario winds up staying in the hospital for 3 weeks, baffling teams of doctors as they try to find out what his actual illness was. He has to endure exploratory surgery attempts, a 2.5 hour MRI, a lumbar puncture, a Nasogastric tube insertion, & more. Mario describes all the emotion of the hospital stay & trying to figure out his own diagnosis as well. You wont believe what it winds up being, how they discover it, & how his surgery goes. On top of that, he finds out how much damage was done, and has even more complications post surgery. Mario explains it all from the perspective of a veteran paramedic, & discusses his recovery, & how it changed the extent to which he listens to his body. This is a real life episode of "House".
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We're joined by LAFD Firefighter, fitness influencer, & business owner Crystal Reneau (@ketowithcrystal) who tells us what its like to be one of the "faces" of the LAFD after a year on the job. We learn what its like to be a rookie when everyone in your new station already knows who you are. How to hold a relationship together during your rookie year. How every new firefighter featured on the LAFD Instagram hears from Danny and learns about PRC. We hear how super hard firefighting is, & how you start and run your own business during all of this.
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Friend and comedian Alex Hooper (Americas Got Talent, Comedy Central) is back on our show after telling us a hilarious story on episode 26 (Anaphylaxis). While we're happy to have him back, unfortunately that means something else has happened to him if he wound up on PRC twice. Alex was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in August of 2022. He shares his whole journey. From symptoms at a music festival, to testing, to treatment. He talks about the toll on himself, and on his new wife (he was married in April 2022). He's super honest & candid about everything he went thru and shares all the emotion surrounding the setbacks that led him to over a month long hospital stay. Resulting in a new beard, a huge appreciation for the little things in life, like sunshine, as well as an epic reunion with his Pugs. This episode shows how a positive mindset can really save your life.
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We talk to LA County Firefighter Trevor Williams, inventor of the Williams Key, a very cool and effective forcible entry tool used by firefighters everywhere. We talk about how he came up with this tool, but we take a long and windy road to get there cuz Trevor is SUPER INTERESTING. He tells us about growing up in Zaire in a missionary family during a civil war & a genocide, then returning to the US at age 8 for a few years to ride bikes and go to the movies. Then at age 12 his family moves, to Haiti, where he lives until his senior year of high school when he moves to LA, while his family moves back to Haiti. He goes back to visit his family in Haiti a couple years later when, while hes visiting, a devastating earthquake destroys the country. Trevor tells us first hand what this was like, thinking his family had died, and staying for weeks to provide aid and search for victims. We eventually get to him inventing the Williams Key, we also get a cool story from Danny, who fought fire on the Venice beach boardwalk a couple days before.
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We examine 3 significant recent cases that made national news involving PD & EMS that had tragic outcomes. The first case happened right by Danny's station in Venice, CA. LAPD struggle with an agitated guy after a traffic collision, who dies hours after being tased multiple times. We discuss whats seen on the extensive body cam coverage of the incident, as well as the different ways this incident was shown in social media. We also discuss the horrifying Tyre Nichols video, and why the EMT's who responded to help him were rightfully fired from their jobs. Then we discuss an incident in Ohio where the responding paramedics have been charged with first degree murder. We break down what went wrong in all of these cases and where the mistakes were made. We also talk about how you can do the right thing as a first responder no matter what is happening before you arrive on scene.
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Our 100th episode features the guy who goes back the furthest in Danny's fire life, LAFD Engineer Don Nash. Don was Danny's explorer post advisor at station 63 when we were teenagers. In additon to telling us some Danny history, Don also works with the LAFD historical society & breaks down all kinds of stuff we never knew about the layout of the LAFD throughout the years, station segregation, why certain rules exist (why does everyone HAVE to eat together?). We also learn the history of the Paramedic service in LA, including the original ambulance guys before paramedics were invented. Don even tells us about an old area hospital neither of ever knew existed, along with some wild stories about ambulance days in the 80's, and learn what its like being a firefighter at LAX. We go back to before turnout pants & automatic doors on this one.
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Comedian and former Pediatric Oncology RN Taquita Love joins us for a deep conversation about healing thru laughter, the resilience of children and the lessons she learned working in a Childrens Hospital and then in the Pediatric wing of the biggest cancer hospital in LA. We talk about work/life balance, & how you realize whats really important. She also tells us how her family got her into medicine and nursing, and then into stand up comedy. Danny also explains what happened to the station 63 Instagram page & we talk about Ben's new comedy special he just filmed.
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We talk about where we've been the last few weeks, Danny pays respects to a friends wife who recently passed & talks about how the fire family comes together at times like these. Then we discuss the LA mayoral race & the endorsement of Danny's union and how that process does and does not work. Finally, we get into our side gigs as Danny talks a bit about being a tv actor & some recent big auditions, & Ben discusses his upcoming half hour comedy special & the process behind that.
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We answer questions from the listeners/viewers. We talk about burn out, working with other departments and agencies on incidents, switching from a smaller department to the LAFD, what to do with all of your new money, & how to keep traditions alive in the Fire Department. We talk about horses, special cookies, proving yourself, learning tricks, rolling turds, wagons, yelling out of necessity, real estate investing, & more.
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