Blue Watch - First Responder Psychological Wellbeing

22/11/2022

"While many of the calls I have attended have been minor and inconsequential, there have also been those that are critical and threaten life. I’ve held a young boy, involved in a severe car crash, as he has taken his last breaths; I’ve removed the body of a young man who had chosen to take his own life while his flatmates stood outside desperately trying to comfort each other; this last week, I witnessed a woman fall to the ground, overwhelmed with grief, after she was given the news that our crew had been unsuccessful in their attempt to resuscitate her husband. The latter story is now an all too familiar scenario for firefighters in New Zealand."

I had the opportunity to write an article for M2 Magazine New Zealand highlighting the impact of repeated exposure to potentially traumatic events on first responders. In the article, I discuss Movembers funding program aimed at reducing veteran and first responder mental ill health and su***de. I also talk about our Whanaungatanga Pilot Program, which aims to reduce psychological distress and injury by developing initiatives that have an organisational change, rather than an individual change, focus.

It's been amazing to have the support of an organisation like Movember and I'd truly appreciate it if you'd consider supporting them by making a donation to my Movember page: https://lnkd.in/gEkimgy2

Words by Senior Fire Fighter Josh Darby, First Responders. While many firefighters are motivated to join the service for noble reasons, such as a desire to serve their communities, my motivation was quite different – I wanted to get out of school! Help support Movember.

13/11/2022

Great to be part of a team seeking to highlight the psychological injury and su***de risks facing first responders and hopefully doing something about it too.

Thank you Movember for your continued support of our men, our veterans, and our first responders

You can support me and initiatives like this by donating here:

https://nz.movember.com/mospace/14269371 =_

27/10/2022

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak at parliament this week as a part of a Movember launch initiative.

I spoke about our Whanaungatanga Program, the prevalence of mental ill health and su***de in our first responder and veteran communities, and the need for a prevention focus based on addressing the organisational factors that contribute to mental ill health (rather than just promoting self-care).

I also called on our MP’s, Ministers, and political parties to stand behind our people who a repeatedly exposed to potentially traumatic events in the course of their work by ensuring we have legislation that is trauma informed.

This was a central discussion point for a meeting with National MP Matt Doocey and in conversations with Labour MP Dan Rosewarne, Act MP’s Chris Baillie and Toni Severin, and Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe.

It was also great to hear from Suzie McDonald and Nathan Price about New Zealand Rugby HeadFirst program - awesome mahi!

Finally, a big thank you to ACT’s Damien Smith pm for hosting us all and, of course, to Robert Dunne who continues to provide these amazing opportunities.

It’s time to start limbering up and prepping the upper lip - please do consider donating this Movember in support of mens physical and mental health.

12/10/2022

"The role organisational stressors play in first responder psychological trauma will soon be under the microscope thanks to a Movember funded project"

Big thanks to Movember New Zealand Ambassador Detective Constable Jonny Hurn for the opportunity to highlight the Whanaungatanga Program in this month's NZ Police Association magazine.

"The Whanaungatanga Program aims to turn traditional staff welfare on its head by putting the organisation, rather than the individual, at the centre of where change should be.
Over two years, firefighters and managers will be surveyed on their perceptions of organisational support, can take part in workshops to develop organisational changes and then be a part of seeing those changes occur in the pilot region."

Jonny also laid down the challenge for this year's Movember First Responders Challenge (we may have taken it out last year!). So looking forward to going head to head with our veteran and first responder colleagues in raising money for worthy causes!

You can read the full article here - https://lnkd.in/gYWB_pRz

27/09/2022

Some good tips here from LTCOL Kearney on checking in with a mate.

19/09/2022

This is a powerful video highlighting a firefighter resiliency program, funded by Movember, that is currently being piloted in Canada. This program came about in response to su***des and mental ill-health in the department that firefighters and clinicians were determined to do something about.

Here in New Zealand, we have also received funding from Movember to design and evaluate a mental ill-health and su***de prevention program. Our pilot program has a different focus - we are seeking to identify and then minimise/eliminate organisational factors that violate trust and that contribute to mental ill-health. However, we share the approach of our Canadian colleagues in creating something designed by first responders for first responders.

Kudos to those Canadian firefighters and clinicians, Steve Farina Duncan Shields, and David Kuhl who have put this program together. I hope we can learn from their success.

After a number of su***des shook the British Columbia firefighter community to its core, there was a call for more education and action.In response to this c...

14/09/2022

I recently had the great privilege of speaking at the Movember New Zealand New Zealand Hall of Fame Awards here in Auckland. This event recognises those fundraisers who have gone above and beyond to raise money to support initiatives funded by Movember.

Some of the efforts people had gone to in raising funds were exceptional, such as Ben O'Carroll who ran 112km's, from his pub to the next closest pub, and in doing so raised more than $25,000! I was able to pass on my gratitude for these efforts and explain how some of the money raised is being used to support the development and evaluation of Veteran and First Responder mental ill-health and su***de prevention programmes around the world (including our very own one here in NZ!)

Later that day I had the opportunity to join Jacqui Maguire in providing some mental health and trauma training to the Movember ambassadors. These are an incredible group of individuals whose harrowing stories left me saddened by the absolute tragedy that befalls people, but also hopeful given each one of them had found some way of transforming their suffering. The work they are now doing to help others is truly inspirational.

A big thanks to Robert Dunne and Alex King who continue to do incredible work in this space.

Not long to go now and I'll be sporting a less than sensational Mo!

Photos: mewettmedia

05/09/2022

Last week I had the opportunity to head down to the NZ Defence Force Burnham Military Camp. There I joined LTCOL Stephen Kearney in making presentations on psychological trauma and mental health to the soldiers of 2nd/1st Battalion.

As someone who is rarely satisfied with the status quo, it was great to be a part of a discussion about how we might become more trauma-informed, both at the individual and organisational level. However, I also took a moment to reflect on how far these types of conversations have progressed for veterans and first responders in recent years. It wasn't too long ago that korero on vulnerability, stigma, and the need to acknowledge and transform our pain would have been taboo and rare in these settings.

There is a tension that exists between gratitude for progress and dissatisfaction with the status quo. I think we need both as we journey towards reducing the incidence of su***de and psychological injury among our veterans and first responders. Credit to those organisations and individual leaders who are acknowledging the psychological risks facing their people and putting the issue of wellbeing front and centre.

07/08/2022

“That really pi**ed me off. I said, do you want me to tell you about a dead kid? Do you want me to tell you a story about when I watched someone die? Do you want me to tell you about a body spread out over a large area because it came to pieces as it hit the ground? What kind of story do you want me to tell you?”

The words of Dave Rose, a veteran firefighter who was asked to pick a single traumatic event to justify his ACC cover for PTSD because of antiquated legislation.

I'm incredibly grateful for the courage displayed by Dave, Luke, and Amanda in agreeing to come forward and tell their stories. I'm also grateful for Jehan Casinader who approached us to tell this story and who has worked diligently to do it justice. As he writes:

"If a firefighter develops PTSD after attending just one su***de, they will receive ACC cover. But if they develop PTSD as a result of 10 su***des, they won’t be covered.

Why is there a discrepancy? Quite simply, successive governments haven’t updated the 21-year-old Accident Compensation Act to reflect modern psychology. That means ACC staff are forced to apply narrow, outdated criteria.

The baffling reality is: the more trauma you’ve been exposed to, the less likely you are to get cover."

A big thank you also to the RET Change Team - Dr Paul Skirrow,
Jack Whittam, David Phillips, and Jason Hannett - who continue to work hard behind the scenes to bring about a much needed change to the Accident Compensation Act.

The question remains - in first responders' time of need, what is it going to take for government and Minister Carmel Sepuloni
to respond with the same degree of urgency and care that first responders demonstrate on a daily basis when we need their help?

https://lnkd.in/gTpekBgA

Firefighters, police and paramedics risk their lives to save others. But when their own trauma becomes crippling, it's a struggle to get help from ACC.

24/07/2022

I know it’s tough times out there and watching this led me to wanting to share it and a few of my own thoughts.

For too long many men have maladaptively coped with the pain in their life by emotional numbing (I know I still do at times). So it is encouraging to see the seemingly growing amount of men encouraging each other to connect when going through tough times.

Make what you want of the UFC but tears formed for me as I watched Paddy Pimblett speak of his loss and the need for men to reach out when they are going through tough times.

It’s okay for us blokes to cry and it’s important that we know that we can share our pain. It has to be okay if we are ever going to heal.

“If we don’t know acknowledge and transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it”
Richard Rohr

If you’re going through a tough time please reach out to a trusted friend, your GP, or a mental health professional. Here in NZ you can call or text 1737 to speak to a trained counselor 24/7.

23/06/2022

I recently had the opportunity to join police constable Bryan Ward, from Bryan and Bobby, on his Coppucchino podcast.

We talked about my own experience of psychological injury, trauma in the emergency services, and why there needs to be more focus on the organisational factors that contribute to mental ill-health.

It’s dropping today on iTunes, SoundCloud, and iHeartRadio.

Dropping this Friday afternoon (NZ time) in association with drops ! My guest is Josh Darby - Firefighter
Trauma Researcher and keen fisherman
Part of the Movember Movember New Zealand funded Whanaungatanga programme which aims to improve the psychological wellbeing of NZ firefighters
So many questions and in this we hope to answer a few ....about first responders, trauma and how it effects even some of our bravest people

Coppuccino podcast avail on iTunes,Soundcloud & I heart radio

03/04/2022

UPDATE: We continue to seek an amendment to the Accident Compensation Act that would provide cover for those who sustain a psychological injury from repeated exposure to trauma (RET) in the workplace. We have now written to the Petitions Committee asking for a review of the adequacy of Minister Carmel Sepuloni's response to our submissions.

In this post, we would like to recognise the incredible work done by our emergency ambulance service workers from both St John New Zealand and Wellington Free Ambulance. Below is an excerpt from our original submission from an Advanced Life Support Paramedic highlighting the work they do and the impact it can have over the course of a career.

“I’ve been in the ambulance service in London (UK) and New Zealand for 27 years. I’ve been an Advanced Life Support Paramedic for nearly a quarter of a century.

During that time I’ve been to and had to deal with literally anything that has been thrown at me. I did that willingly and enthusiastically, knowing it was my job – actually my calling – but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t damage you. When you’re first on scene to a family of four who are unconscious from carbon monoxide poisoning and you unsuccessfully try to resuscitate the limp body of a three year old; when you have to console an eight year old when she’s found the body of her 38 year old mother who has su***ded; when you have to tell the partner of a guy who’s fallen off a 20 meter balcony that he is unable to be saved because you’ve just put your hand through his shattered skull; when you have to tell the widow of a man that you couldn’t help the person she’s loved for 65 years and see her face crumple…all of those things, no matter how hard you try to stop them, invade your space.

Over time no matter how stoic you are, it all eventually catches up with you; little fragments of each one break off like tiny shards of glass and stick in to you. You don’t notice them at first but then gradually, like an ever growing mass, they surface until one day there are so many of them that you can’t shut them out any more. You feel like one more shard will make you explode; you run scared of what the next call is – just in case that’s the one that is going to destroy you – that is going to reduce you to a shell that either can’t cope, or that copes by exploding or by shutting down completely. You lie awake at night terrified of what the next call might be…will it be your nightmare?

Current research and thinking indicates that we can no longer ignore the collective impact of emergency service work in addition to specific jobs in isolation. Although my experience is that whilst there was one job that was the final trigger, I have absolutely no doubt that the cumulative effect of my previous years of service had a huge part to play in my diagnosed mental injury.”

31/01/2022

Shoutout to the invisible frontline.

Ever wondered who’s on the other side of 111 emergency calls?Meet John and his team at our Emergency Communications Centre in Auckland and get some insight i...

29/01/2022

Some light relief 😂

09/01/2022

Ashley, sharing her journey as a first responder.

“This is a photo of the last time I was truly happy at work.

We were working in the middle of a huge snow storm, 2021 was an historical time for Texas, and it seems like the entire state was covered in a blanket of snow. It was my 31st birthday, and half the shift had met me in the cemetery parking lot for a snowball fight that I was late to, because the firemen had decided it would be fun to try to bury my patrol car in the snow. Everyone was staying in their homes, we weren’t getting a lot of 911 calls, and it felt like the entire county was at peace.

I liked to pretend that I hated the snow, but I secretly love it. It’s the cold that I hate. It’s the coldness in humans that I hate even more. I’ve been doing this job my entire adult life, and for the past near decade I have seen humanity die, and the love for our fellow man fade into a taboo…if that love for your fellow man doesn’t meet the political climate of the day.

I’ve carried a beautiful little girl out of a murder house, past the body of her mom’s boyfriend, and had that sweet girl say the words “daddy said he was going to kill mommy then kill me then kill himself”. Those words are still burned into my brain. I remember my first time doing CPR, only to see it not work, and I remember my last time doing CPR, only to see it not work again, for who knows how many times. I’ve seen a few su***des, I’ve seen a lot of natural deaths. I’ve seen people be truly petty and mean to each other. Each call chipping away at my smile a little bit at a time.

I wanted to believe in humanity, I truly did…I was known for my “hug a thug” mentality, and maybe being a little too gentle in the ways I chastised people. I remember my very worst call, something I’m still not comfortable sharing publicly the details of…and I know that it was my one…it was the call that absolutely broke me. Not the murders or the rapes or all of the dead bodies combined. It was the single worst call, and it killed my love of the job.

Suddenly I realized that I had reached a point in my career where I was at a limit of the terrible awful. I worry about being vulnerable and about sharing with my peers what it looks like and feels like to be at my limit. I worry about those same peers that don’t know how to leave when they hit that limit. I especially worry about the ones who hit their limit, and are afraid to speak with their supervisors about it.

I’m a huge advocate for departments allowing their officer’s to use sick time for mental health breaks. It is not normal to take child molestation reports and go about our business like nothing just happened, just like its not normal to hold a 9 year old in your arms as she bravely recounts a murder she witnessed. Exactly one month ago I left Law Enforcement and moved to working full time for Humanizing The Badge. I’m here to be a voice now, because I have no fear of losing my job for expressing mental health concerns. I reached my limit, and that’s okay. I am a human being, and I’m thankful that I refused to lose myself to the darkness.”

-HTB Ashley

07/01/2022

“The study found that bullying and harassment were not the main causes of mental health stress for most workers. Instead, many felt like much of the stress occurred because the department was seemingly unconcerned about the toll the job had on the mental health of staff.
Many also felt like their input was not factored into decisions – and was perhaps penalized instead – by upper levels of the organization.
"Civilians and officers often feel treated as a 'resource' rather than as people," reads the report.”

An internal Victoria police study identified mental health and workplace conditions as top concerns for officers and civilian staff working in the police department.

07/12/2021

"Coming from a law enforcement family, to talk about feelings and emotions is a challenge at times," admitted firefighter Dustin Hawkins. "After my father, being 30 years in law enforcement, I just now coaxed him into the ‘snuggle with the struggle.’ I have to tackle the man to hug the man."

Talk to many firefighters and they’ll explain that “suck it up and get on the truck” mentality. But as of today, mental health assistance is on the fast track to Florida first responders, to the tune of $12 million.