Call Residue Podcast

The job doesn’t just end when the rig backs into the bay. The hard calls follow you home, and if you’ve ever wondered, “Am I the only one feeling this?” we want you to hear this conversation. We’re joined by Chief Joel Johnson, a Snohomish County fire chief who also serves as a chaplain and peer support lead, to talk about what responder stress really looks like and how to get help before it turns...

You can train for fire, trauma, and protocols, but nobody trains you for what stays in your head after the scene is over. We sit down with Jake Braaten, a brand new paramedic, to talk about the quiet weight that builds over time: the “residue” you carry home from EMS calls, hospice moments, and those first critical incidents that change how you sleep, think, and relate to people you love.  Jake’s...

Two days on shift sounds like a schedule. It’s actually a lifestyle that reaches into your kitchen, your sleep, your parenting, and your marriage. I’m Jake, a firefighter paramedic, and I’m joined by my wife, Kristie, to tell the truth about what our home life looks like from both sides of the job, with the unfiltered details that never made it into any academy lecture. We talk through the practic...

The first time you watch a CPR end in death, the hard part is not only what happened on scene. It is the ride back, the silence, and the moment you realize nobody taught you where to put any of it. I’m Jake, a firefighter paramedic with 16 years in fire and EMS, and Call Residue starts with the story I still remember from being a brand-new volunteer at 25. I talk about why first responders lean on...

I’m Jake Kelly, a firefighter-paramedic in fire and EMS, and I’m building Call Residue for the parts of this work that don’t fade when the shift ends. I share why I’m doing this, what I’ve lived through, and why I believe you’re not alone in sobriety, trauma, and hard lessons.    turning a lifelong stutter into a reason to speak   introducing my background in fire, EMS, and recovery    focusing on...