Episode 274 - Forged in the Fires Guest - Daniel Sundahl

Forged In The Fires Podcast with Fireman Rob

Daniel Sundahl (DanSun) is a published artist and writer with four (4) art books produced of his works. Articles of his work are featured in Canadian Paramedicine, Journal of Emergency Medicine (JEMS), Fire Rescue Magazine, EMS One, EMS World Magazine, The Canadian Journal of Emergency Nursing and the Finnish magazine Asystole. His art is recognized worldwide, and he travels internationally, speaking about his art and personal experiences with occupational stress injuries and post-traumatic growth. He is an advanced care paramedic, pre-hospital educator, a retired firefighter, photographer and photo editor. Daniel is currently a counselling therapy student in a two-year program graduating in 2024.

Daniel was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Taking up a global residency as an English language teacher in Egypt, Mexico, Indonesia and Japan, he now works full-time as an artist, photo editor and public speaker. Daniel became a full-time paramedic and firefighter in 2003 and retired from his full-time position in 2022. He is now enrolled in a two-year counselling therapist program and will graduate in 2024 as a registered counselling therapist with the Canadian Professional Counselling Association.

His love of photography began during his travels, and as his technique developed, he produced a blend of photography and graphic art, which he calls Photo Art. The majority of Daniel's work involves emergency services photography. It comprises an emotional connection to the artist as most of his pieces are based on actual emergency calls he has attended as a paramedic and firefighter. He is passionate about reducing the stigma of PTSD for first responders and uses his art to raise awareness of occupational stress injuries worldwide. Daniel enjoys combining the technical and artistic elements of his work. Each piece can take several days or weeks of processing until he feels it is ready. First Responders' mental wellness initiatives were initiated after visiting his peers in Australia, Finland, and Mississippi. Daniel often travels and gains inspiration for his art from his experiences. Find out more at https://www.dansunphotos.com/