Showing posts with label crisis response teams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crisis response teams. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

"I just tried to be there,” Chaplain Ron Link explains life as responding to responders

Always on call: Meet the chaplains who assist sheriff's office during crises

Dawson County News
Jessica Taylor
Feb. 26, 2019
Each year they receive 40 hours of training from the Georgia Sheriffs' Association to maintain their certification, which they said reinvigorates and motivates them to keep answering the calls from dispatch.

Dawson County Sheriff's Office Chaplains Ron Link and Dr. Charles Blackstock. - photo by Jessica Taylor 
"I just tried to be there,” Ron Link said as he recounted his first call from dispatch. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to do but it turns out I was doing what I was supposed to,"

Link became a chaplain for the Dawson County Sheriff's Office three years ago, and vividly remembers his first call to a scene: a devastating house fire.

Dr. Charles Blackstock, the lead chaplain who has served in the role for 10 years, was in Atlanta, leaving Link with the responsibility of responding to the call alone.

"I had no formal sheriff’s office training. I just went out there to try to be a help," Link said. "It was kind of overwhelming. It was a really bad scene."

It was a house fire, and someone’s significant other was inside. All Link could do was stand outside with the husband, comforting him as authorities conducted their investigation.

"I didn’t know what the procedures and processes were. I didn’t know who to talk to. All I knew was there was somebody there that was in real, emotional crisis and so I went over and stayed with him until his family arrived," Link said.

It was his first taste of what his new role as a chaplain entailed.

For Blackstock, a pastor at Lighthouse Baptist Church, stepping into the role was a little bit easier. With his ministerial background, he was rather comfortable with providing faith-based support to the sheriff's office staff and the community.
As chaplains, Blackstock and Link voluntarily assist the sheriff's office by delivering death notices, consoling emotional victims at crime scenes and emergencies and supporting the sheriff's office staff through counseling and helping officers cope with traumatic events.

How they go about providing assistance from scene to scene varies with every call.

"You never know what you’re going to get called on to do," Blackstock said.
read more here

Why is this important?

In 2008, I became a Chaplain with the IFOC and received Certification in Crisis Intervention, among other things, plus an award for my work focusing on PTSD prevention for first responders. For the next two years, I trained in many more programs to help avoid the worst results of their service from taking hold. While I no longer wear the badge, I carry the valuable lessons I learned with me everyday.


Why would I do that?
I am a ten time survivor of facing death during traumatic events, including when my ex-husband decided he wanted to kill me, and almost did.

Throughout my life, my family was doing the intervention without knowing it. Sure, I had nightmares, flashbacks, and all the other symptoms of PTSD, but it did not have a chance to take hold because it was addressed right away.

Through the research I had done for a couple of decades, I learned that there is a 30 golden window to battle trauma and take back control of my life. The symptoms had started to go away within the first month, and I was on the road to recovery.

Every now and then, things pop into my mind, but the memories no longer control my life. 

The worst one was when my ex stalked me, ignored the restraining order and every time I heard a muscle car engine rev, it sent a electrical charge through my body and I wanted to run. That went on, even after moving to Florida, far from where he lived, and long after I married my current husband.

When my cousin sent me a copy of his obituary, I stopped freaking out from the sound and began to enjoy the noise again. That comes in handy considering what I do on PTSD Patrol with car shows...although I still do not like my first reaction when I come across a Cutlass. I take a deep breath and move on to interesting pictures to take.

Knowing what all those times did to me, it was easy to understand what it was like for all the veterans and responders were dealing with, and being a family member of a Vietnam veteran, I also understood what it was like on this side of the trauma.

All of this goes into what I have done with my life since 1982, and what I do everyday. So if you find some comfort on this page, gain some knowledge, or decide that you can just copy it, now you know what is behind all of it.

Healing requires what Chaplains do because they are trusted with being able to listen without judging, comfort when needed and let you know that minute you start to address what happened, that is the minute you begin to heal as a survivor of it. 

First I listen. Most of the time, it is over a cup of coffee or at an event when someone sees what I am wearing. A shirt with PTSD Patrol or my Point Man vest, lets them know I am someone willing to listen.

Then I guide them to understanding what PTSD is and let them know how to kick it out of their new normal as a survivor. And then...it is time to work on the spiritual side of healing so they can come out on the other side even better than they were before. You know, like me! 

None of what I do would have worked had I not had the life I had...or learned to become a leader to healing those who risk their lives to save people like me all the time. 

Monday, December 31, 2012

17 Year old prank called suicide prevention hotline

Suicide hot line prank call highlights mental health services available to area families
By Kathryn Brenzel
The Express-Times
December 30, 2012

A call confessing suicidal thoughts sent swarms of law enforcement descending on a house where they expected to possibly find a slain teenage girl and her father, who’d confessed to shooting her.

What they found was a 17-year-old Mansfield Township boy who’d invented the plot as a prank, police say.

The teen, later charged with creating false public alarm, allegedly called a Warren County suicide prevention hot line and said he’d shot his daughter and was thinking of turning the gun on himself. Several agencies responded, ultimately wasting resources and incurring overtime costs, said Mansfield Township police Lt. Michael Reilly.

The threshold of anonymity on suicide hot lines is crossed when the caller threatens harm to others or themselves. At that point, law enforcement is contacted, Reilly said.

“It puts everyone at risk because we don’t know what we’re responding to,” he said of the prank. “Everybody’s short on resources. Any major event, we all help each other out.”

The alleged joke highlighted the severity of making false reports, but it also showed how a county network can react to crises involving children and their families.

Communication between crisis intervention, law enforcement and other mental health agencies is key to quickly and accurately responding to situations, said Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke.
read more here

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Treating trauma - Risks of debriefing after disaster

I am alive and pretty well balanced because without knowing it, my family did debriefing every time there was a crisis. They were there to listen. That's the point of crisis teams showing up after a crisis. They are there to listen and let people talk to someone without having to worry about hearing a judgment, having their feelings dismissed or hearing someone tell them they have all the answers. Crisis teams are there to take care of immediate needs including the need to talk, cry and let it out. The crisis teams are not there to force anyone to talk but there for the people who feel the need to be comforted this way. There is also a residual effect when they see others being comforted. It allows them to seek it for themselves.

This article seems to miss this point as it goes far to show that there are risks of debriefing but the risks come when people are not trained properly and they can do more harm than good. There is also the risk to the responder. Deploying into one crisis after another can leave them being drained and often they need to talk to someone too but good trainers and team leaders already have someone in place for them to connect with.

Treating trauma - Risks of debriefing after disaster
By Natasha Mitchell

The church in Carisbrook shows how high the water rose in town (ABC Ballarat: Brad Barber)

Last week's floods have brought devastation to thousands of Queenslanders, and now Victorian homes are going under.

The stories of loss and survival emerging from close-knit communities in the Lockyer valley, in towns like Grantham and Ipswich are confronting and sobering, as people describe hanging on for dear life to trees, rooftops and each other as floodwaters pushed past them with the force of an "inland tsunami". People are still missing, some ripped from the arms of loved ones, and search and rescue teams are steeling themselves for grizzly discoveries amidst the rubble and receding waters.

"Mum and dad are beautiful people, and we're still in shock we've lost them", Sarah Norman told ABC News, after both of her parents perished, their bodies swept to their final resting place two kilometres from their Spring Bluff home, near Murphy's Creek. "It was heartbreaking, but we just believe they were together and God has his hands on all of this".

Sarah shared her story on camera with quiet clarity and without the raw emotion you might expect, but her muted stare gave it away - this was a woman in shock. Surreal, numbing, stunned shock.

After the deluge, our natural inclination is to want to help people deal with this shock, and fast.

Help comes in many forms, both material and emotional. Donating to the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief Fund is one way, or registering with Volunteering Queensland to lend a hand is another, offering people temporary shelter, helping families sort through the stinking mud and debris for precious hints of life as it was, and reaching out with open arms and hearts to those who have lost everything.

Next we want to send in the psychologists and counsellors, and understandably so. Talking through the hell that's happened will help, won't it? It makes sense and sounds right for professionals to get in early and help us bear witness to our own trauma, doesn't it?
read more here
Treating trauma - Risks of debriefing after disaster

Monday, September 6, 2010

PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch

PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch
September 5, 2010

The Royal New Zealand College of Genereal Practitioners is calling on health agencies to ensure the longer-term emotional after-effects of the earthquake are dealt with appropriately.

College deputy president, Dr Tony Townsend said it is likely that some people will suffer post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

"It's normal for people to feel anxious after a major event like this, and most people will recover.

"However, some people, especially women, children and the eldery, may continue to feel anxious for longer periods and it is essential that these people see their general practitioner.

"Parents and teachers of younger children should keep an eye on their charges over coming weeks to note any signs of behaviour change."

Dr Townsend said it is essential that health agencies plan and organise for enough trained people to be available at that time to assist people in need.

"Trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy is widely reecognised as the most effective intervention for PTSD," he said.
read more here
PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Officers focusing on crisis intervention

Saturday, March 6, 2010
Officers focusing on crisis intervention

By: Todd South
(Contact)

A man calls police because his brother, a Vietnam War veteran, is acting strangely, not taking his medications and saying angry words, but the vet hasn't broken any laws.

What do officers do?

"Before, you would go out to the calls and you didn't know any other options except jail," said Chattanooga Police Department Officer Joe Kerns. "They don't need to go to jail. Mostly they need help with their mental illness."

Since September 2009, the Crisis Intervention Team training program in Hamilton County has helped teach law enforcement officers how to deal with such volatile situations, both for their own safety and the safety of the mentally ill and their families.

Officer Kerns and Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy Stephen Short graduated from the first Crisis Intervention Team training in September 2009. They were on hand this week as role players for the second class of trainees.

Throughout the role-playing exercise, students took turns talking with Deputy Short, a former Marine, who played the part of a Vietnam veteran having mental difficulties.

Each participant approached the veteran and talked with him in a calm tone of voice, despite Deputy Short's shouting and haphazard actions, including lining stools in a row, shouting commands and dropping to do pushups.

Crisis intervention focuses mostly on working with people who either have a mental illness and are behaving erratically or with people who might be in a stressed mental state and not otherwise thinking clearly, said retired Maj. Sam Cochran, formerly of the Memphis Police Department.
read more here
Officers focusing on crisis intervention

Monday, August 24, 2009

Crisis team responds to high school after deah of football player

Sullivan South Football Team Still in Shock After Player Dies During Game

Dana Wachter
Published: August 22, 2009

Update (Aug. 24 / 7:53 a.m.)

Sullivan Co., Tenn—A crisis team will be on hand Monday for Sullivan South High School students after 18-year-old Jake Logue, a senior, co-captain and linebacker on the Sullivan South High School football team, died during their season opening game in Knoxville against Knox West High School. Logue collapsed during a play in the third quarter.

On Saturday night, teammates, coaches, family members and friends gathered for a candlelight vigil in Logue’s honor. Everyone painted the football field with Logue’s name and jersey number. People at the candlelight vigil also gathered in a big circle and shared a prayer.

A memorial service for Logue in Sullivan South High School’s gymnasium is tentatively scheduled for the middle of this week.

Sullivan Co., Tenn.—Friday night, 18-year-old Jake Logue, a senior, co-captain, and linebacker on the Sullivan South High School football team, died during their season opener in Knoxville.
Logue collapsed during a play in the third quarter, and the game was called off.
read more here
Sullivan South Football Team Still in Shock
linked from CNN


H.S. football player dies 1:35
A high school football player collapses during a game and later dies. WJHL's Dana Wachter reports.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide

Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse


Great Falls Tribune

Aug 28, 2008
August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.

The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq.

"He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."

Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.

Besides the additional screenings, the Montana National Guard has developed crisis response teams that include a chaplain to investigate behavioral problems among its troops, and TriWest Healthcare pays to have four part-time counselors on hand to talk with soldiers and airmen during weekend drills.

After the briefing, Obama spent about 20 minutes telling several hundred veterans and their families that, if elected as president, he will be committed to meeting their needs.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11028