Monday was National First Responder Appreciation Day. We know our local heroes are constantly working around the clock to protect our community, but who's protecting them?
Both REMSA and Reno Police Department offer peer support groups that focus on wellness for all staff members in any department.
"Right now, about 38 members of our department who all received training in peer support," said Michael Browett, Reno Police Lieutenant.
"We have individuals that are a part of our support team from care flight, ground operations, dispatch, the business office," said Adam Heinz, Chief Operating Officer of REMSA Health.
Heinz says as a first responder, many times they are seeing people experience the worst day of their lives. Combine that with long hours and high-stress environments, over time it can become very overwhelming especially after responding to a highly impactful call.
"You know mass casualty incident or child death, that's a big one,"Â Browett said.
Browett and Heinz say both their agencies work hard to break the stigma many first responders deal with.
"A lot of officers and other first responders attribute weakness with emotion and that's not true," said Browett.
He says it's okay for first responders to have normal reactions to abnormal situations. And that's why they have peer support groups to help employees connect with each other and understand they're not alone.
"We really want to normalize the idea that it's okay to be unwell, it's okay to not be okay. We just need to make sure as leaders, and as people in first response that we prioritize their health by ensuring that those services are available," said Heinz.
REMSA also provides embedded clinicians, apps for those who prefer to seek help online, and traditional behavior health counselors. RPD also encourages staff to reach out to other professional services to help protect aspects of their personal lives as well.
"There's all kinds of treatment options available to hopefully stay off post-traumatic stress injuries because that's where we start seeing family problems and divorces and suicide and all those things," said Browett.
Lieutenant Browett says showing appreciation to responders, even just saying a simple thank you on the street, can actually go a long way.
