Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Stop being absent from your own life!

Time to filter out the BS and fill up with something to actually work toward!

OK, you can tell what kind of mood I'm in right now. 

Frustrated does not even come close to wanting to get up on my roof and scream that it is time to stop being absent from your own life!

You found excuses because you looked for them.

You found other people to blame, because you looked for them.

You found whatever you wanted to find when you wanted to find it.

So when the hell will you find what you need to stop screwing around and get serious and #TakeBackYourLife from PTSD?

How many officers do you need to hear from? One this site, you've read about officers in every department of people who made it their job to do whatever it takes to save others.

HOW ABOUT YOU DO THE SAME FOR YOURSELF?

Fire Department Captain "I thought I was bulletproof"

First Responders and PTSD: Still waiting to just get over it? Pay attention! Your life is calling in sick. Time to #TakeBackYourLife

First responders can be haunted by close encounters with suffering and death

“I thought I was bulletproof. I thought nothing ever bothered me.”

Captain Rick Stack, a long-time North Attleboro firefighter, has been diagnosed with PTSD.
But beneath the aura of command he cultivated, invisible damage was webbing slowly outward. Stack didn’t know it yet, but the job was taking a toll — week after week, month after month, year after year. In time, his own suffering would break through the surface.

Wild ride up in the air in a Viper

F-16 demonstration pilot uses cockpit camera during air show — and the result is stunning
Air Force Times
By: J.D. Simkins
July 30, 2018

The 2018 F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, commanded by Maj. John "Rain" Waters, center. (Air Force)

The Air Combat Command F-16 Viper Demonstration Team put forth their usual brilliant performance last week when they flew in the 2018 AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The team from Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, specializes in demonstrating the capabilities of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, one of the service’s prized fighters.

While performing in Oshkosh, the team’s commander, Maj. John “Rain” Waters, put together one hell of a cockpit video specifically for your viewing pleasure.
read more here

Using the words from Contact "Want to go for a ride?" So do a lot of other people. It just came onto YouTube 2 days ago and has had 83,563 views already!
Cockpit video using my virb360 cam in the F-16 Viper Demo Team performance at 2018 Airventure. Pilot: John Waters

Monday, July 30, 2018

Veteran thanked Officer who saved him from suicide

Veteran who considered taking his life thanks cop who saved him
By:KXAN
Posted: Jul 29, 2018

GRANITE SHOALS, TX (KXAN) - Granite Shoals Police Officer Tim Edwards received a challenge coin Friday for getting a veteran mental health treatment when he was about to end his life two weeks ago.

Air Force veteran Larry Guynes says he has struggled with depression and anxiety. The medication he was taking didn't sit well with him and he contemplated killing himself.
"I called the suicide hotline," he said. "I was on the phone with them and unknowingly they called Officer Edwards in."

Edwards was dispatched to Guynes' home.

"When I saw him, I instantly saw somebody who was looking for help," Edwards said.

Edwards says the lessons he learned from crisis intervention training kicked in.

"He was standing in his front yard on his phone when I walked up," Edwards said. "I just gave him the opportunity to speak, let him tell me what's on his mind."

Guynes didn't feel threatened by Edwards, saying he was quiet and calming.

"My focus immediately shifted," Guynes said. "I wasn't thinking about harming myself any longer. It was immediate. It was astounding."

"He had a plan," Edwards said. "I believe he would've went through with it if we would not have intervened that evening."

Guynes was the one who handed Officer Edwards his challenge coin. Etched on the back is the quote "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid," by former President Ronald Reagan.
read more here

PTSD Veteran sleeps outside Rehab, service dog not welcomed

Combat Veteran Sleeps Outside with Service Dog When Denied Access to Rehab Facility
FOX 16 News
By: Rebecca Jeffrey
Jul 29, 2018

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Justin Simmons knows what war looks like.
"I hear screaming and yelling, I hear explosions."

It's a scene that now lives in his head.

"You know, there's some things that don't go away," Simmons said.

The Iraq combat veteran is taking on a new battle for his best friend.

"This guy's kept me out of more trouble than any jail commitment," he said looking at his service dog Blue.

He says a PTSD episode landed him in jail back in 2011.
He says last week he was sentenced to treatment at the Recovery Centers of Arkansas in North Little Rock until a bed opened up at the VA.

"I was automatically court ordered and if I left I would go to jail," he said.

While he was welcome inside the RCA, Blue was not because he didn't have the right certification.

"You're not allowed to deny me access with my service dog. It's not legal," Simmons said.

Blue is a registered service animal through the Americans with Disabilities Act.
read more here