Karen Monda

Local Brewery to Debut “Everyone’s Hero” Craft Beer to Benefit Survive First on June 28, 2019

Dirty Oar Beer Company is a local brewery out of Cocoa, FL who loves and supports their first responders. Owners Paul Hill, Chris Hughes, and Mark Alderman opened the Dirty Oar in Cocoa Village, in 2017 and have been serving up their own hand crafted brews since. Since opening, the Dirty Oar has been a …

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Join us at the Represent 321 5k/10k Community Run/Walk!

Survive First is honored to have been selected to be one of the beneficiaries of IAP’s “Represent (321) 5K/10K Community Run/Walk (It’s a Family Affair)”, to be held on Saturday, November 9th, in Satellite Beach, FL! We are so grateful to be part of this and hope you will join us at this awesome event, …

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Get Outside and Just Go!

Life can be busy.  Life can be challenging.  We all seem to know this too well.  Go to work.  Do the laundry.  Clean the house.  Help with homework.  Go to soccer practice.  Cook dinner.  Do the dishes.  Finally take a shower and undwind…at 9:00.  Does this sound familiar?  Do we ever really unwind?  For many …

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North Carolina First Responder Support Group

Survive First is excited to announce a new support group in North Carolina.  We welcome any and all First Responders and their families to attend.  It was created to be a confidential and supportive resource for first responders dealing with personal, traumatic, and/or cumulative stress resulting from the unique stressors and responsibilities of emergency services personnel. …

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From Assistant Chief of Police to “Yogi” – by Christopher O. Davis

If someone had told me 3 years ago that I would be a certified yoga instructor and a Yoga for First Responders Ambassador, I would have told them they were crazy! Like most Type-A first responders, I had to experience it (yoga) for myself. Several years ago, I was going through a difficult time professionally …

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An Ounce of Prevention

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” – Benjamin Franklin. Recently, we visited law enforcement recruits at the Police Academy in Palm Bay, Florida, where Doug Monda, founder of Survive First Foundation, told his own personal experience with depression, PTSD, and attempted suicide. He spoke of the lifestyle and mood changes he …

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Sensory Integration at Lakeside

The limbic system is a complex system of nerves and networks in the brain, involving several areas near the edge of the cortex concerned with instinct and mood. It controls the basic emotions (fear, pleasure, anger). Human emotion and the senses are significantly impacted by trauma and PTSD.  Furthermore, self-regulation becomes impacted, making it increasingly …

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