Firehouse Forums Riley Johnson January 13, 2019
Former Lincoln Fire and Rescue paramedic Rob Ravndal is sharing his experiences with PTSD to help change cultural attitudes toward first responders.
Former Lincoln Fire and Rescue paramedic Rob Ravndal. LINCOLN, NE, FIRE and RESCUE
Paramedic Rob Ravndal went on hundreds of emergency calls before the one response that ultimately ended his career at Lincoln Fire and Rescue.
The trauma of that call, a 3-year-old's drowning in 2015, sent the father of young children into a spiral.
Nightmares. Breakdowns. A general sense of fear.
Even after his bosses pulled him off the ambulance, Ravndal struggled at work and at home as he grappled with post-traumatic stress disorder.
One in five firefighters or paramedics nationwide will suffer from PTSD during their career, according to the Journal for Occupational Health Psychology.
Ravndal sought treatment, eventually becoming the first Lincoln firefighter to use a service dog. But he never returned to full-duty and ended his nine-year tenure in October, walking away from the job the he said made him feel like a superhero.
Ravndal, 46, hopes sharing his experiences grappling with the disorder and trying to continue his career will help change the culture toward first responders experiencing PTSD.
"If the people don't do something to change it, they can't be upset if they call 911 and nobody comes," he said.
read more here
Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos January 13, 2019 An open letter to Jesus This is a very hard time for me because it seems no matter what I do, what I know and how much work I do, others get praised, even if they are thieves passing my work off as their own. I have no power to stop them. I have no power to make anyone listen to what I have to say. The only power I have is to do whatever I can to help whoever seeks it. You know what is in my heart and I know that the gifts I have came from you. You guide me to seek knowledge and share what is truth. You give me courage to bypass fear of the powerful for the sake of the flock. You arm me in spite of those who ignore all you equipped me to do. You are my shelter.
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. Psalm 91
You brought me into my veteran Father's home and surrounded me with other veterans. You brought me into my veteran husband's heart and showed me what pure love is, as well as the pain I saw in his eyes. Then You showed me what it was like to go beyond the times of darkness, so we could walk the rest of this journey together, still holding hands and loving the way our lives have grown beyond what others thought was even possible. You know the hours, the heartache and you know what it is like for me when someone reminds me of why I do what I do.
You had put a voice within me that I used to gladly sing, but those years have passed and while there has been a song in my soul, it has not passed my lips because there has been too much pain within me. So now I sing a song for You beyond the tears that came because I know, if I share this with those I am supposed to reach, they may know that others go through the same dark times, even if they believe, as I do, that nothing is beyond Your love.
Time for Congress to investigate how it became OK to push veterans out of the VA!
There was a times when taking care of the veterans who became disabled after serving this country, was a sacred duty for the rest of us. There was a time when Presidents and other politicians promised the best care this country could provide for them, because they understood, veterans were prepared to die for this country. Then came a time when they were no longer ashamed they failed to fulfill their end of the duty and veterans suffered. More promises and more pointing fingers, while veterans suffered. More years and more suffering has brought us to their repulsive conclusion that they now should be treated like all other citizens and the debt we owe to them no longer matters, has taken over the soul of this Administration. The VA is an obligation to this nation! It is not something that can be sold to away.
V.A. Seeks to Redirect Billions of Dollars Into Private Care
New York Times By Jennifer Steinhauer and Dave Philipps Jan. 12, 2019
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs is preparing to shift billions of dollars from government-run veterans’ hospitals to private health care providers, setting the stage for the biggest transformation of the veterans’ medical system in a generation.
The Rocky Mountain Regional V.A. Medical Center in Colorado. President Trump made reforming veterans’ health care a major point of his campaign.CreditCreditDan Elliott/Associated Press
Under proposed guidelines, it would be easier for veterans to receive care in privately run hospitals and have the government pay for it. Veterans would also be allowed access to a system of proposed walk-in clinics, which would serve as a bridge between V.A. emergency rooms and private providers, and would require co-pays for treatment.
Veterans’ hospitals, which treat seven million patients annually, have struggled to see patients on time in recent years, hit by a double crush of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and aging Vietnam veterans. A scandal over hidden waiting lists in 2014 sent Congress searching for fixes, and in the years since, Republicans have pushed to send veterans to the private sector, while Democrats have favored increasing the number of doctors in the V.A.
If put into effect, the proposed rules — many of whose details remain unclear as they are negotiated within the Trump administration — would be a win for the once-obscure Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group funded by the network founded by the billionaire industrialists Charles G. and David H. Koch, which has long championed increasing the use of private sector health care for veterans. read more here
They have Trumps ear but will we prove we have veterans' backs?
Getting rid of the stigma of PTSD is like melting black ice.
PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone Kathie Costos January 13, 2019
Black ice looks like a puddle but it makes the driving conditions dangerous. The stigma attached to PTSD is like black ice in your life. Facts can melt it so you can heal it! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife Read it here and watch the video of my office back in order again.
Father writes heartfelt message after Airman son's suicide
Sandusky Register Nichael Harrington January 12, 2019
MILAN — The father of an Air Force airman who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wrote a heartfelt Facebook post remembering his son.
XinHua Mesenburg graduated from Edison High School before he found his calling in the Air Force. He was stationed as a Senior Airman at Andrews Joint Base when his father and stepmother received a picture of an alarming handwritten note on Jan. 5
Mitch, who is from Huron but lives in Florida, shared what the message said in a Facebook post: “I hope that all you remember me fondly, I hope all you will live a long and happy life. As I fade from your memories, please know this was nobody’s fault. The stress life has given me, finally broke my will to live.”
After reading the note, Mitch and Shannon tried desperately to get ahold of him by phone and called authorities in Virginia. Mitch stayed on the phone with a dispatcher for what he described as an eternity, but it turned out to only be 12 minutes.
It is with great regret and a heavy heart that I am writing this letter. On January 5th. at 8:03 pm Shannon and I received a text message picture from our son Senior Airman XinHua Mesenburg who was stationed at Andrews Joint Base. The picture was of a handwritten note, it said.
read more here
Discharged Navy Sailor Worked as Career Counselor While Running Prostitution Ring
Stars and Stripes By Rose L. Thayer 2 Jan 2019
As a Navy counselor, Joseph Fetterman was tasked with mentoring young enlisted sailors at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City. At the same time, Fetterman was enhancing his military pay with cash flow from a prostitution ring that he and his wife operated -- using women flown in from Thailand. (Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office photo)
As a Navy counselor, Joseph Fetterman was tasked with mentoring young enlisted sailors at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City. For at least four years, the petty officer 1st class spent his days at the base helping sailors map out their career paths, plan for retirement and weigh their options for rate changes.
But during at least his final year in that job, Fetterman, 35, was enhancing his military pay with cash flow from a prostitution ring that he and his wife, Kanyarat, operated using women flown to America from Thailand, according to documents released by the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office. read more here
Man raised money to send Marine families to Disney. He pocketed most of it, feds say
Charlotte Observer Charles Duncan January 11, 2019
Simpson raised about $481,000 for the charity, but spent only about $90,000 of that actually helping Marines, the feds charge.
John Simpson FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
A charity raised funds to send Marines and their families to Disney theme parks, but its founder John Simpson pocketed most of the money for himself, according to a federal indictment filed this week in South Carolina.
Simpson raised about $481,000 for the charity, but spent only about $90,000 of that actually helping Marines, the feds charge. The other $391,000 went to enriching himself, paying off his mortgage and bills, and for his then-wife’s “adult novelty business, Red Room Toys,” according to court filings.
Sherri Lydon, the U.S. Attorney in Charleston, South Carolina, accuses Simpson of lying about his military career to raise money. The indictment states he “falsely represented himself as a retired career marine with as much as 20 years of service, a retired Master Sergeant, a former Drill Instructor, and a Recon Marine.”
In fact, according to the court filing, Simpson served less than five years in the Marine Corps and was given a bad conduct discharge after going absent without leave in 1998. read more here
Anatomy of a blunder: How Veterans Affairs quietly buried a $165M accounting error
CBC Murray Brewster January 11, 2019
It was an incredibly simple (and incredibly daft) mistake — and it led to a $165 million federal fiscal faux-pas.
Veterans look on during Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018. New documents obtained by the CBC show how Veterans Affairs attempted to gloss over a $165 million accounting error affecting disability pensions.(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press )
Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos January 12, 2019 Seriously wondering how did we go from "yes we can" to "because I said so" and far too many have no problem with that at all. Politically I am an Independent Centrist. I agree with some things on both sides. I am tired of hearing all the claims that are simply not true. First, we need to open our eyes to the fact that just because someone said something, that does not mean it is true. This is for all my Republican friends because I care about you and if you have only received your information from Facebook, you are being deceived.
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." 1 Peter 2
Here are some things you may not know.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling. (Reuters)
“Somebody needs to remind Mr. Trump that the military is not his palace guards. They take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. They also abide by the rules — not only of the uniform code of military justice, the UCMJ — but they also abide by the U.N. mandate against torture and the Geneva Convention protocols against torture.”Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling March 2016 The Washington Post
This "wall" is not about our National Security but it is about the President's ego and Republican politicians unwilling to hold POTUS accountable for anything, while the other side wants to nail him on everything. Had our security actually mattered more than anything else, then these other providers of our security would not be paying the price.
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the number of enforcement actions at the southwest border for the month of December. Due to the lapse in funding, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is unable to publish the enforcement actions for December on its website.
These are the Departments that are under Homeland Security.
Component Agency Contacts
Below is contact information for different Department of Homeland Security components.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approximately 37,000 dedicated Civilians and Soldiers delivering engineering services to customers in more than 130 countries worldwide.
With environmental sustainability as a guiding principle, our disciplined Corps team is working diligently to strengthen our Nation’s security by building and maintaining America’s infrastructure and providing military facilities where our servicemembers train, work and live. We are also researching and developing technology for our war fighters while protecting America’s interests abroad by using our engineering expertise to promote stability and improve quality of life.
We are energizing the economy by dredging America’s waterways to support the movement of critical commodities and providing recreation opportunities at our campgrounds, lakes and marinas.
And by devising hurricane and storm damage reduction infrastructure, we are reducing risks from disasters.
Our men and women are protecting and restoring the Nation’s environment including critical efforts in the Everglades, the Louisiana coast, and along many of our Nation’s major waterways. The Corps is also cleaning sites contaminated with hazardous, toxic or radioactive waste and material in an effort to sustain the environment.
Through deeds, not words, we are BUILDING STRONG.
This is the report from FOX News that should freak out everyone beyond what you just read.
The White House has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to "look at possible ways of funding border security," Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News on Thursday night, as the ongoing partial federal government shutdown over money for a border wall is less than two days away from becoming the longest in the nation's history.
Separately, Fox News is told the White House directed the Corps to examine the February 2018 emergency supplemental, which included disaster relief for California, Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, among other states, to see what unspent funds could be diverted to a border wall, according to a congressional aide familiar with the matter.
And this is what the funds were supposed to be for from the same article.
Approximately $13.9 billion is available from the congressionally approved February 2018 supplemental spending bill, intended to cover natural disasters, and much of the available money comes from flood control projects, Fox News is told. The Military Construction appropriations bill could provide additional funding in the event of an emergency declaration.
Here is a list of more things that have been cut during the shutdown. Keep in mind that these are people who dedicated their lives to providing our National Security and now, they are paying for what we have allowed the President to simply say he wants it done. The question is, what are you going to do about any of this?
Quick thinking Columbus police officer saves man from suicide
Four States By: Jeremiah Cook Posted: Jan 08, 2019
Officer Gurney says training he received in the Marine Corps, and during his time with the Columbus Police Department is what turned tragedy into a chance to get someone in need help. But Columbus Police Chief Jason Daniels says who officer Gurney is played just as big a role in how things turned out.
The quick thinking of a police officer is being credited with saving the life of a Columbus man, and giving a community the opportunity to discuss a nation-wide problem.
"It was clearly someone who was distressed, someone who needed help, and so my primary goal was to get him that help,” says Officer Christopher Gurney.
Just after midnight Monday morning, Columbus police officer Christopher Gurney says he was on a routine patrol of the city when the first call for help came in. Police chief Jason Daniels says what happened next should send a strong message to the entire community.
When Gurney arrived on scene, he says all he knew was that someone needed help. Around 12:30 Monday morning, dispatch called for an officer to respond to reports of someone preparing to commit suicide. Officer Gurney has only been with the Columbus Police Department for five months, but credits the knowledge passed on to him by his fellow officers for giving him the tools he needed to think fast and save a man's life. read more here
