Thanking those who aid responders
Only those selfless souls willing to serve as first responders can comprehend the emotional stress accompanying their job.
It is impossible for the rest of us to imagine the trauma that comes with handling situations such as the incident in Byron earlier this year when a mother killed her four children and then took her own life.
Nor can we relate to the trauma that comes with responding to a fatal motor vehicle crash or a fire with burn victims.
We are grateful there are currently two programs in Park County helping emergency responders cope with the emotional stress that comes from dealing with those kind of incidents.
The Park County Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team has been in operation since 1985.
CISM offers education, mitigation, support and information for emergency responders in Park County and the Big Horn Basin.
Just recently the group began training official therapy dogs to qualify as trauma dogs.
The trauma dogs will be an integral part of the formal process called debriefing following a critical incident. That process provides emotional support to responders within 12 to 24 hours of the incident.
Downrange Warriors in Cody has been providing support for veterans for a number of years to aid in helping them deal with post-traumatic stress and trauma-related issues.
Recently the organization began offering sessions for first responders to deal with the emotional scars accumulated over time.
Addressing first responders in a statement, Downrange Warriors says, “We know more about you than you do…When you feel overwhelmed emotionally, you think it is weak to ask anyone for help.” Additionally the statement says, “No one teaches in this organization without having looked death in the eye or put another human back together again.”
We should all be thankful for those individuals in our community who risk their lives serving as first responders.
We need to be also grateful for CISM and Downrange Warriors and the volunteers willing to assist emergency responders deal with the trauma they incur during critical incidents.