One of my passions is working with law enforcement officers, firefighters and other emergency professionals. In the recent years, an increasing amount of attention has been placed on our first responders and the care for their mental health. In a world surrounded by wars, school and community shootings and political strife, it may be easy to forget about those who protect and serve our communities at home. Who helps those who help us?
This article, written by Tom Hallman Jr. of The Oregonian was published on January 11 and does a great job at illustrating the the impact of line-of-duty experiences our first responders cary with them.
Portland police officer leaves on a routine call, finds something he'll never forget
We all cary our own backpacks. Some of our backpacks fill up faster than others, with items of different size and weight. At some point our backpacks will become full and eventually overflow if we do not exercise self care. The real kicker of this is that our "stuff", these items which we cram into our packs, will most likely spill onto ourselves, our friends and family at the most unwanted time, making it all the more difficult to clean up. While many individuals - emergency professionals, themselves - oftentimes have the expectation that first responders can handle the stress, we need to remember that they are people too, just like everyone else. Even their backpacks become full.
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