Students and Supervision

Below are the TIR-trained people ‘on the team’.

CERTIFIED TIR FACILITATORS

Andy Pike

Andy was a LFB Station Commander traumatised digging for his FDNY friends buried at Ground Zero. When we met he warned me his psychiatrist had told him he was the worst PTSD case he had seen. I saw Andy once, then he called me years later to tell me how good life was. He had even joined the Military Reserve.

Andy was transformed so when asked me to help ‘the lads returning from Afghan with PTSD’ I refused. Instead I told him I’d teach him to do it. So that’s what we did – Andy went from 9/11, PTSD, recovery, soldiering and now addresses PTSD. He was certified as a TIR Facilitator in 2017.

TIR PRACTITIONERS (20-50 supervised hours)

Paul Meakin

Paul is a firefighter at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and a qualified psychotherapist. The first year of my PhD was wasted after Combat Stress ignored the success I’d enjoyed with some of its ‘intractable’ cases and was refused a research project to assist me and benefit its veterans. With a year gone I turned to the fire service and soon had the go-ahead and the offer of Paul to drive me to fire stations. I returned the favour by training him in TIR. He was impressed enough to run a pilot delivering a single TIR session for 20 colleagues.

On average the clinical scores, including PTSD symptoms, fell around 50% 2-3 weeks later and further still a year later. This persuaded managers to let him build a peer-support team to address the stress and trauma evident in the job. He has assisted me with with critical incident stress debriefings and brought his team to London to assist after the terrorist attacks of 2017 and the Grenfell Tower fire. If he caves in to pressure and applies to do his PhD I want to supervise it.

Renae Hayward PhD

Renae is a clinical psychologist and the only one I’ve managed to train in TIR – that was in Melbourne, Australia in 2017. She is an EMDR specialist, trained in several cognitive methods and is highly-regarded both as a therapist and trainer in her home city of Adelaide. Renae is HCPC-registered in the UK.

Andy Williams

Andy is ex-Royal Navy and a Falklands veteran. Just prior to retirement from Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service he trained with the Notts Fire peer support team. Later he joined it during its four-week response to the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and Grenfell Tower fire at the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in 2017. He assisted with the preparations of MPS officers involved in the Westminster attacks to give their evidence at the Inquest in October 2018. It appears to have been successful.

TIR NOVICES (up to 10 supervised hours)

Sean McCallum

Sean is an operational firefighter at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS), and an infantry veteran of the 2003 Iraq war. With Paul, Sean organised the NFRS peer-support team supporting the Metropolitan Police Service after the 2017 terrorist attacks and Grenfell Tower fire. He runs a breakfast club for armed forces veterans and accompanies WWII veterans to the battlefields of Normandy.

Clare Hudson

Clare is a firefighter at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service who trained as a member of the peer-support team. As a member of the team she travelled to London to assist in the peer-support effort with police officers affected by the terrorist attacks and Grenfell Tower fire. She also joined a specialist team preparing police officers to give evidence to the Westminster Inquest at the Old Bailey in 2018.

Jon Scott

Jon was the most senior ranked officer to train and take a place in the Notts Fire peer support team. He joined the team in London during its final week of the four weeks supporting the Metropolitan Police Service.

Gemma Whelbourne

Gemma is a firefighter at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service. She was a member of the peer-support team that was assembled to meet the request of the Metropolitan Police Service in July 2017 after the London Bridge/Borough Market attacks and the Grenfell Tower fire.

Peter Fitzpatrick

Peter is a firefighter at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS). Motivated to do something about the stress apparent in the job and to support his colleagues he sought Dr John Durkin’s opinion on what to do. Peter and his colleague Ian trained in 2018. With additional training planned for November 2018 Peter will know how to assess, intervene and monitor recovery all within 28 days of a critical incident.

Ian Melville

Ian is a firefighter and colleague of Peter Fitzpatrick at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS). He shared similar concerns to Peter when he joined us on the TIR training in early-2018. His motivation to assist firefighters who are all too aware of the psychological impact the job has had on them stood out. He too will be trained alongside Peter in the programme that sees posttraumatic stress resolved within 28 days.

Mark O’Donnell

Mark is a firefighter at Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (D&DFRS). He introduced himself at the time the Notts Fire’s peer-support teams were being trained in 2015. Since then he has undertaken the same training, alongside Peter and Ian, and is now building a peer-support team at D&DFRS with additional training to follow later in the year.

Graham Watson

Graham is a firefighter at Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (D&DFRS) and a colleague of Mark O’Donnell. Graham sought the assistance of one of the Notts Fire peers and was impressed enough to join Mark in training and helping to build the team.