29/04/2022
PTSD is not spoken of enough and is a tough thing to deal with. My good friend lost her husband who was an officer today... unexpectedly. Which inspired me to put this message out there. And it may be wierd to put this on a business page, but I believe the message needs to be heard. Our first responders and related personnel deal with such a high volume of unimaginable sights and situations. Then, once they clock out, they are expected to go home and live a normal life. Most people may see one or two gory situations in their lifetime, where as these people see it 1000 times before they retire. Trying to rest at night after working normal job is hard enough, I couldn't imagine trying to sleep after seeing child abuse victims or murdered, burned, dead, abused people. Or even seeing abusers released because someone was afraid to press charges and you can't do anything about it. It has to tear you up inside.
Some may say they signed up for it. Yes. They did. But they are also human. Humans have breaking points. They need support. They need kindness around them. Someone must do the job. And quite frankly our local first responders so an incredible job, from the 911 operators to the responders that show up.
Cleaning up this hotel 7 years ago was challenging and when I took over, the nonsense, violence, drugs that ran this place, our first responders were here so often. It's so very nice to see that now they only have to come for breakfast and lunch.
But when they used to come for real calls, and I've witnessed well over 100 of them, I have to say, from fire to paramedics to police, they've been handled with compassion and understanding. Nothing like the garbage you see on TV. I'm sure there may be a bad apple here and there, but to be fair we all work with one or two in our work places.
Here's the message. Be kind. Nobody wins with hate. Open the door for communication. Tell your loved ones they can talk to you, and really talk to you. If you can tell something's up with your loved one, ask them. Don't be too proud or embarrassed. It could honestly save a life.
As a last note, I know therapy can be tough, hard to approach, expensive and wait times are outrageous. Sometimes we feel like we can't talk to our loved ones or even work partners. Sometimes its easier to vent to a complete stranger in the same field. If our first responders need a space to meet and casually help each other out, chat, offload some weight of their chest, discuss coping mechanisms, whatever... I'd be willing to give up my private dining room on a periodic basis for this purpose, at no cost. If someone would like to lead this group, I'd be open to discussing it. Obviously this would be a dry gathering, and I'm not looking to get paid on this, rather I'm offering this as a service to our first responders community. You know how to get in touch. Don't be shy. The door is open and this could save a life. This is not a professional mental health outreach by any means. But sometimes a friendly casual gathering can make all the difference in the world to someone.
Thank you for what you do.
