Photo: Mat Napo | Unsplash
When Randy Jones began working as a small-town EMT in the 1970s, running to emergencies in an ambulance felt like "God's work". That is until one call in 1979 caused him to doubt himself. Now, he works with a peer support organization that sees itself as a 911 for 911 workers, reframing emotional fallouts from stressful events as an occupational hazard rather than a personal failing. Colorado's First Responder Trauma Counselors, created by Ed and Joanne Rupert, offers counseling and mental health services for dispatchers, police officers, EMTs, paramedics, and nurses, with 24-hour support and a mobile response unit. FRTC offers culturally competent clinicians as staff who have worked as first responders. "They just stand there with you," says one EMS battalion chief. "Not just with us individually, but just with us collectively."Recently, Jones was talking with an ICU nurse who didn't want to burden colleagues or family with her feelings. She didn't need to explain in detail. He'd been there. He got it.
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