Shots Fired: Breaking the Silence on PTSD in 911
$9.99
(Video & Handout)
Overview
The purpose of this presentation is to shed light and start the conversation of addressing PTSD in the 911 telecommunications profession. In 2015 I was working as a police dispatcher for Boston police, and successfully managed an officer involved shooting. While I received many awards for how I managed the situation, the fallout of PTSD and lack of support had me making the difficult decision to leave 911 altogether in order to address my mental health. During my journey of healing, I came to the realization that the 911 field was my passion, and that dispatchers everywhere are lacking the support needed in order to continue in the field. I’ve now been back in the filed for 4 years. In addition to sharing my story, I’ve applied my experience to working on NENA’s Wellness Committee, specifically the Peer Support sub-committee, and the Acute Stress working group. Locally, I attended the Group and Individual Counseling Training, and applied to be a part of the local CISM team, which recognizes the important of including 911 personnel for defusing and debriefings. I am currently the point of contact for my agency. Recently, myself and other 911 professionals on the team have been meeting to discuss the 10 top calls for dispatchers, as well as discuss how we can spread the word that CISM teams in our area is a resource available to all dispatchers. In addition to walking viewers through my story – the initial call, the PTSD fallout, and the steps I took to change my mindset and heal – I want to be able to present the dispatcher’s point of view in handling critical incidents, and how agencies can help stop burnout and high turnover by providing resources to their dispatchers.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify problems 911 professionals face on the job
- Understand how they can contribute to changing the conversation about PTSD in first responders
- Identify obstacles 911 personnel face utilizing a CISM team
Presenter
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Nicole Janey
Emergency Communications Supervisor
Chelsea Emergency Management
Nicole has been working in the 911 field for 15 years. Highlights of her career include working the Boston Marathon Bombing and the ensuing week, as well as successfully managing an officer down call. Following that event, she took a break from 911 in order to address the PTSD. She returned to 911 with a passion for all things related to 911 mental health and wellness, and is particularly focused on spreading the word about the effects of PTSD in the 911 community, and the need for better support and services for our personnel. She is also involved in the Greater Boston Law Enforcement CISM team, and the National Emergency Number Association. She is active in several subcommittees within NENA's wellness continuum. As a side project, she is currently curating “You Are Not Alone: Portraits of the Gold Line Family” , a photography project that seeks to put a face to all members of the 911 profession, and showcase how everyone is effected by the job, regardless of role.
Related products
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Overview
Presentation Details:
This presentation will be prerecorded followed by a live breakout session with interactive activities and facilitated conversation. The content will include educational information on the particular types of stress that comes with disasters and impacts an activated Emergency Operations Center environment. Whether that EOC is a government agency, a private business or a school system, the work is impacted by the intensity of the task at hand. Emergency Managers of all kinds often see themselves as immune since they are not in the field dealing hands-on with victims or survivors.
The reality is they are at times more prone to disaster stress than their counterpart first responders. The appropriate use of CISM activities are designed to keep people productive, not take them off line. Just like trickle charging a battery, effective in the moment disaster stress management can help ensure good judgement and appropriate decisions are being made. This workshop will use case studies and facilitated conversation to explore this topic.Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to- Participants will examine the unique stressors in an EOC environment
- Participants will be able to differential between Disaster Stress Management on Disaster Mental Health
- Participants will increase their knowledge of deploying to an activated Emergency Operations Center
Presenter
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Mary C. Schoenfeldt
Emergency Management Professional
Green Cross Academy of Traumatology
Dr. Mary Schoenfeldt is an Emergency Manager with a specialty in school and community crisis. She has a passion for Disaster Psychology delivers Disaster Stress Management for a non profit ..Green Cross Academy of Traumatology. She responded to Columbine HS shooting, Hurricane Katina, Haitian Earthquake, Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting, Hurricane Harvey and was in the Emergency Operations Center for 6 weeks following the 530 Mudslide. She currently is providing support manage COVID 19. When she isn’t traveling she is behind the podium as Past President of Everett Port Gardner Rotary.
Handouts
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Overview
Power point presentation to include the St Luke’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic with specific attention to the mental health of our 22,000 network employees in our major University Healthcare network. How we identified needs, what we did to address needs, and what we continue to do to ensure the mental and physical health of our hospital employees. Attention to PTSD, Acute Trauma, Acute stress reactions. How we have supported our nextwork from the mental wellness aspect in order to mitigate long term critical incident stress disorders.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to- Verbalize 3 programatic elements they can add to their care of hospital, healthcare, first responder employee mental health.
- Plan live, large support group sessions for hospital and first responder personnell.
- Name evidenced based depression and trauma scales that can be used during and after pandemic or prolonged stress.
Presenter
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Amie Allanson-Dundon, LPC,CCTP,CAADC
Network Director, Clinical Therapy Services
St Luke's University Health Network
Amie Allanson-Dundon, MS, LPC, CFAS,CCTP, CCDPD, CAADC is Network Director, Clinical Therapy Services for Behavioral Health Services at St Luke’s University Health Network.. Focused on the treatment of substance use disorders, trauma, critical incident stress, and mood disorders, Amie assesses and supervises complex cases, consults with network physicians, and is a lead for the Crisis Response Team at St Luke's. Working with St Luke's University Health Netowrk since 1997, Amie oversees the clinical programming and teams for School Based Psychotherapy, Partial Hospitalization services, Outpatient therapy and Integrated mental and physical healh care. Amie is also Program and Facility Director for the DDAP certified and DOH approved level 4.0 Medical Detox at St Luke's Sacred Heart Campus in Allentown Pa. Amie completed her graduate work at Villanova University, has certifications in trauma, addiction, forensic addiction and is a licensed professional counselor in PA & NJ.
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Overview
The current spotlight on policing and law enforcement issues is focused mainly on urban departments rather than rural areas. Ironically, the majority of police agencies across the nation are not in large cities, but small or rural towns. In 2013, 71% of all police departments served jurisdictions of fewer than 10,000 residents, and 30% served communities of less than 2,500 residents. About half of law enforcement departments have fewer than ten officers (Weisner et al., 2020).
The U.S. Census Bureau (2016) defines rural areas as less dense and sparsely populated than urban areas. Ninety-seven percent of the United States’ landmass is rural. About one-fifth of the population, sixty million people, inhabit rural areas; many are employed in agriculture, forestry, mining, and manufacturing, sectors that are plagued by declining job opportunities. Rural areas tend to be impoverished and do not have the tax base to fund social programs, including police and public safety adequately. As a result, rural agencies are underfunded, understaffed, often undertrained, and lack the necessary equipment. (Ricciardelli, 2012). Rural agencies face challenges in training opportunities, access to resources, types of crimes, interaction with citizens, degree of scrutiny, inferior technology, and mutual aid access, and cooperating overlapping jurisdictions e.g. Native American, federal and local.
Rural areas are often characterized by conservative values, aversion to government interference and authority, a tendency to exert social control among their own, and higher gun ownership that urban areas. Crimes related to wildlife, agriculture, and hate groups are common. Of necessity, rural police departments tend to have a unique culture and way of doing things depending on local history, demographics, size, and budget. (Weisheit et al, 1994).In addition, because rural agencies are generally spread over large geographical areas and sparsely populated areas, response times are measured not in minutes, but hours. With few resources and more area to cover, they are spread thin. Consequently, big city solutions to policing issues are often not relevant to small town and rural police departments.
A sheriff’s deputy explains: “When our department goes to trainings in the big cities we just sit there. What they are teaching is not relevant to our daily operations. They have departments for every job. In rural policing we see and touch it all. Any of us could be first on scene at a traffic collision or a homicide. We’re search and rescue, the coroner, the victim advocate at the scene of domestic violence, the family therapist, the sex crimes investigator, and the ones who evacuate people from wildfires.”
Although the study of rural agencies has been largely neglected, it is essential as the profession faces upheaval. Rural policing is plagued by a lack of material resources, limited staffing, and vast response areas with limited back up. Rural officers also face mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and suicidal ideation similar to urban officers. These issues may be exacerbated by isolation, cultural barriers, and unique organizational expectations. Geographical location and long shifts often limit access to mental health services. Emerging advances and ongoing research in interventions such as telehealth and existing treatment modalities such as peer-support groups and critical incident stress management (CISM) may prove to be a bridge in closing the gap for this underserved population.
The purpose of this paper, while not comprehensive in addressing the myriad issues that are relevant to rural policing, will elucidate the stressors unique to rural law enforcement agencies and the peace officers who serve in them. Additionally, methods to increase resiliency and stress management will be proposed.References
– Ricciardelli, R. (2018). “Risk it out, risk it out”: Occupational and organizational stresses in rural policing. Police Quarterly, 21(4), 415-439. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611118772268
– U.S. Census Bureau (2016). New census data shows differences between urban and rural populations. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-210.html
– Weisheit, R. A., Falcone, D. A., & Wells, L. E. (1994). Crime and Policing in rural and Small-Town America: an overview of the Issues. National Institute of Justice Rural Crime and Rural Policing, 2(2). https://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/crimepol.txt
– Weisner, L., Otto, H. D., & Adams, S. (2020). Issues in Policing Rural Areas: A Review of the Literature. Criminal Justice Information Authority. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10290.76489Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to- To be able to identify five challenges faced by rural law enforcement .
- Describe five implications of the challenges.
- Identify three specific applications to help remedy the challenges.
Presenters
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Marilyn J. Wooley, Ph.D.
Psychologist
West Coast Posttrauma Retreat
Marilyn J. Wooley, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who has a private practice in semi-rural Redding, California. Her primary focus is treating first responders and their families, treatment of post traumatic stress injuries, pre-employment psychological evalutions, and crisis response. Marilyn teaches Mitchell Model CISM through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. She is actively involved with the First Responders Support Network and has regularly served as a volunteer lead clinician for the West Coast Posttrauma Retreat in California since 2001. Her published articles include the topics of crisis response, first responder resilience, critical incident stress, and surviving the 2018 Carr Fire. She is currently writing a manuscript about post-traumatic growth in first responders and a biography about her grandfather's experiences liberating Dachau Concentration Camp during WWII. Marilyn grows roses and enjoys adventures with her husband, daughter, and two brilliant grandchildren. She has survived skydiving, SCUBA diving with sharks, summitting Mt. Shasta, swimming a class IV rapid while attempting to whitewater kayak, and belly dancing at a biker bar.
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Shaneika Smith, MA
Psychological Assistant
West Coast Posttrauma Retreat
Shaneika Z. Smith currently resides in Redding, CA. She is a Clinical Psychology doctoral Student at Fielding Graduate University. Prior, she attended the University of Chico where she earned a B.S. and M.S. in psychology with an emphasis on Marriage Family Therapy. Shaneika became interested in working with first responders when she began a practicum with Dr. Marilyn Wooley in 2018. She quickly became affiliated with the West Coast Posttrauma Retreat where she provides treatment services for law enforcement, fire, communications dispatch, and medical personnel. She plans to continue her training in CISM and working with families of first responders while she pursues her doctorate in Psychology.
Handout
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Overview
By taking the ICISF Assisting Individuals in Crisis and Group Crisis Intervention courses, we, as mental health professionals, have learned how to provide assistance to First Responders after a Critical Incident. But what if they seek our help with none crisis issues, do we treat them the same as we would any civilian who comes to us for help? The answer is a resounding NO! As with any special group, we must take into consideration the “cultural issues” of the group and adjust our clinical interventions to acknowledge their difference. This seminar is a quick look at some of the specifics of first responders and the cultures of their profession and some ideas on adapting our clinical interventions to meet their needs.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to:- Identify 3 key aspects of a first responder culture
- Identify 2 unique stressors in each first responder culture
- Identify 2 adaptations they might make in their clinical approach to working with first responders in their practice setting
Presenter
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Dennis Potter, LMSW, FAAETS
CEO
Kantu Consultants
Dennis Potter is a licensed social worker who helped to form one of the first community based Crisis Response Teams in Michigan in 1986 and the Michigan Crisis Response Association. Dennis is the CEO of Kantu Consultants. He is an Approved Instructor for all of the ICISF Core Courses, and is a member of the ICISF Faculty since 2006.
Dennis has been a presenter at the last 14 International Critical Incident Stress Foundation World Congresses. Dennis was awarded the ICISF Excellence in Training and Education Award at the 2011 World Congress. Dennis was given the Grand Rapids Police Department Exceptional Civilian Service Award for his 22 years of working with their Peer-to-Peer program.
Handouts