Ep. 41: Deputy Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons on Leading Healthy Change in Public Safety

Deputy Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons, on Leading Healthy Change in Public Safety, speaking with Fleet Maull.

23-year fire service veteran, paramedic and current Flint, Michigan Deputy Fire Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons, who has served her community in every division within the fire service, discusses the daily challenges firefighters face, the toll it can take on their wellbeing and her commitment to transforming fire service culture in support of wellness, resilience and diversity as well as the responsibility of leaders to model the changes they wish to encourage in their agencies and among their personnel.

The role prayer, gratitude, and thankfulness along with maintaining a strong after-work life with family, friends and community service, have played in helping her stay healthy and resilient throughout her career and the challenges and changes she has experienced as a female black firefighter in a profession made up almost entirely of white men when she began, and which remains one the least diverse public safety professions in 2021. Her role as a leader in listening to and supporting the firefighters and other staff in our agency, and how she proactively refers them to the professional support they need to work through challenging emotional and mental health challenges and occupational stress injuries.
The importance of leaders proactively identifying and making available the resources their staff, who have to transition between traumatic experiences and home life on a daily basis, need for resiliency and mental health support -- their coffee and conversation initiative giving firefighters the opportunity to process difficult and potentially traumatizing job experiences.

DEPUTY CHIEF CARRIE EDWARDS-CLEMONS Deputy Fire Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons is inspired daily by the strength and resilience of the Flint community and firefighters to stay strong and determined even in the face of many challenging circumstances. Hired into the Fire Department in 1999 as a Trainee, Carrie has served the community in every division within the fire service. She earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A./Public Administration from Columbia Southern University.
She is the grant writer for the department and has secured grants in excess of 23 million throughout her career. She is the first female to achieve the rank of Deputy Chief in the 165-year history of the Flint Fire Dept. and is the first female president of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters. Deputy Chief Edwards-Clemons works hard to recognize the needs of her team members to anticipate and secure resources to support them to be successful - equipment, emotional and physical support for their health and wellness, and keeping them connected to the mission and equipped with the tools needed to achieve the mission.

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