My name is Mike Rumble. I’ve been a first responder for four decades, from first aid cadet in the 1990s to Critical Care helicopter paramedic for the past 15 years. During that time, I was also a mental health nurse, completed a degree in adult education and am enrolled in a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. I volunteer with the first responder peer support service Boots on the Ground and teach a number of first responder resilience and mental health courses.

After engaging with Bessel van der Kolk's work, "The Body Keeps the Score," and his discussions on neurofeedback for veterans and foster children with unrecognized PTSD, I was inspired to try NeurOptimal Neurofeedback training myself. As a first responder, I saw parallels between the trauma faced by these children too young to recognize it and the unaddressed trauma in my own life and work. I have also seen considerable use of NeurOptimal Neurofeedback among professional athletes to enhance performance, which I find highly applicable to emergency services. In my opinion, any advantage that can improve high-performance teamwork and facilitate better contributions saves lives.

As a flight paramedic I don’t get to pick and choose the traumas faced daily. When the call comes, I must focus on the patient at hand and be willing to process the humanity of my work later. Much of my job is to create ad hoc teams from groups of professionals who don’t know each ​other in order to lead resuscitations and emergencies. One day my team might be paramedics, firefighters and police officers at a motor vehicle collision on the highway and the next day could be full of doctors and nurses in a small hospital trying to stabilize a child for transfer. When we transport the patient, m team shrinks to 2, just my partner and I, but our focus on the patient never wavers. NeurOptimal training directly supports my ability to create ad hoc teams and lead resuscitations and emergencies effectively. It helps in tempering the negative experiences accumulated throughout the day, making me a more balanced individual overall.

I used a NeurOptimal Neurofeedback system at home for about 90 days, and the results were remarkable. It helped me reset my emotional barometer, keeping me more focused and goal-oriented in my studies and everyday life. As a husband and family member, I found myself more present and engaged. As a paramedic, I’ve accumulated more than a few lifetimes worth of bad days and that can weigh heavy on me emotionally. NeurOptimal targets the moments my brain settles into those negative thought patterns and subtly prompts it to break that habit... and after so many years in the back of an ambulance, some of those bad habits are fairly entrenched. I find myself more reflective and less reactionary in an optimized way, making better decisions quickly rather than simply acting faster. The most impressive improvements have come in the form of better perception in how information fits together,` directly improving my understanding of situations.

My experience with NeurOptimal has been positive and I have no reservations recommending it to colleagues, friends, and family members. I encourage others to give it a try and consider the time training as both an investment in my professional as well as personal life.