Tamarac Fire Mental Health

Father Ronald Perkins has been a public safety chaplain since 2009 and is a member of the Federation of Fire Chaplains and the International Conference of Police Chaplains.

He has extensive experience and education in workplace chaplaincy, and serves as the senior chaplain at Fort Lauderdale Police Department, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue and Coral Springs Parkland Fire Department. He has over 2500 hours in the field with fire rescue and law enforcement personnel.

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In 2016, Fr. Perkins formed a non-profit organization, Public Safety Chaplaincy, Inc., to provide consulting and management services, as well as direct chaplaincy to public safety departments.

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While in High School and throughout nursing school Fr. Ron worked as an EMT on ambulances and in Emergency Departments. After graduating from Marcy State Hospital School of Nursing in 1972, he served as a US Navy Nurse Corps Officer specializing in pre-hospital and hospital-based emergency medical services.

Following his military service, Fr. Ron held positions in nursing and hospital administration where he was responsible for trauma and emergency services in hospitals of up to 500 beds in Kentucky, Texas and Louisiana.

 

Prior to Fr. Ron’s religious calling he spent over thirty years in senior management and marketing positions in the healthcare and business services industries. His experience includes managing operations and marketing strategies for organizations with over 2,000 employees and revenues in excess of $500 million.

Fr. Ron has served on several community charitable boards and the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Advisory Committees. He resides with his wife, Karen Unger, in Fort Lauderdale and is the proud grandfather of two.