The Hits Keep Coming: More from FSPA Conference in Pearland!

You have a pretty good idea that we had a very successful conference in Texas, October 9-10, 2025, when attendees and presenters alike are sharing their thoughts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram–just to name a few social media platforms. Here’s another one from Greg Menveille, Co-Founder at Okaya.me, who presented, AI for Fire Departments and Mental Health Professionals: A Primer, that he posted on LinkedIn:

I was nervous walking into the Fire Service Psychology Association Conference.

I’m not a firefighter. Not a psychologist. Not a peer supporter. I’m a founder who built an AI tool as part of a SBIR with the U.S. Air Force to help improve readiness and resilience. And while I’ve had to perform CPR (including an event where, unfortunately, it didn’t work), it’s nothing compared to what the women and men of the fire service go through daily.

Then Chief Jason Mays [Who co-presented, Fire Service Seatbelt Use: A 20-Year Case Study, with Dr. Burt Clark] dropped one of the hardest-hitting phrases of the conference: Never again pass on a folded flag to a surviving loved one.

He was talking about his leadership journey [With the Amarillo, TX Fire Department] after the death of his colleague, Brian; someone who should still be here. The room went completely silent, and not with the polite conference silence, but the kind that hits you in the gut.

And it got even more visceral later that day, when Firefighter Allen Lude [Who co-presented, Re-Humanizing the Heroes: Recognizing and Confronting the Dehumanization of First Responders, with his wife, Dr. Kari Mika-Lude] told his own story from 1998. It might have been 26-years ago but every detail was still vivid, raw, and painful.

All of us wanted to hug him and I’m sure we were all glad when the Master of Ceremonies, Robert Avsec, stood up and did.

Every personal story, and there were many, followed the same arc:

• “I didn’t realize I was drifting.”
• “I waited too long to ask for help.”
• “By the time I reached out, I was barely hanging on.”

Career firefighter or volunteer, big city or small town, it didn’t matter. The problem was the same: We catch things too late.

To put things in perspective: last year, 119 firefighters died by suicide — and that’s with only 60% of departments reporting (TY Jeff Dill for the stats). How many of those deaths could be preventable if someone had caught the drift earlier?

And that’s not even measuring the impact on those who are showing up every day while struggling in silence, carrying the weight in ways that affect themselves, their teams, and their families.

That’s what I left Fire Service Psychology Association with: There’s no one magic recipe, but there are many people who are truly committed to being agents of change, worldwide.

And thank you to Pearland Firefighter/EMT Greg Stroud for the tour of the station and Pearland Fire Chief J. Taylor and the entire Pearland FD for being such great hosts.

Thoughts and an Offer from Greg

AI-powered tools like Okaya [Greg’s company] are part of that solution helping humans check in privately. Daily. Without stigma or fear.

It should never replace [Emphasis added] therapy or peer support rather help people reach those supports sooner, when they still have strength to reach out.

The goal is to collaborate to prevent the next folded flag.

Here’s the link to explore and test Okaya’s platform. https://www.okaya.me/firefighters-readiness

Questions? Contact Greg directly at his email, Gregory Menvielle gregory@okaya.me