What about First Responders Mental Health Needs?

 Talking to First Responders about THEIR Mental Health Awareness

May is mental health awareness month.  You probably don’t need anyone to tell you there are mental health needs out there—you see it every day in the public. There are hospitals and therapists and doctors to help people.  And it’s also your job to help people, and you do it every day.

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Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detectors Save Lives!

If you’ve ever wondered how important smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are in homes, here are some life-saving examples.  These are devices we most often take for granted.

Francisco and Fidela needed a combination smoke and carbon monoxide detector. They reached out to their son, Captain Lara of the Omaha Fire Department. They fit the criteria for eligibility to receive the detector from the First Responders Foundation and the Omaha Fire Department by owning their home and being physically or financially unable to provide it themselves. The Omaha Fire Department made a visit to their home and installed the detector in their living room.

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FRST Suicide Prevention Training

The First Responders Support Team (FRST) specializes in working with first responders on behavioral health issues and Suicide Prevention training.

Co-Director of the FRST Team, clinician Stephanie Levy, shares how the First Responders Foundation has been working with local first responders over the last year and a half, how barriers are being broken, and how progress is being made to help prevent suicide in this demographic.

Unfortunately, first responders are statistically more apt to die by suicide than on the job, or in the line of duty.

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Stronger Together

Stronger Together is the goal of the workshop with the same name that the First Responders Support Team (FRST) offers to first responders and their significant others.

Kevin and Kay Erickson are both first responders. Kevin is a Detective in the Youth Bureau, for the Sioux City, IA, Police Department. Kay is currently a Nurse Practitioner in Internal Medicine at St. Lukes Hospital in Sioux City and has been an emergency room nurse.

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How Can I Help & Support Police/First Responders?

This has been an inspirational week at the First Responders Foundation.  There have been countless calls and emails from concerned citizens asking, how can I help?

  • How can I help support the police and first responders in the metro area?
  • Can I show support and appreciation for all they are doing to protect our rights and for the safety of our community?

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The Distance Project

While out shopping for necessities over the last few weeks, Luke Steiner made an observation.  He noticed that many people were not following the new social guidelines to stay 6 feet apart.  Even in stores that were attempting to make it easy, it was obvious to Luke it was not getting done.  Luke was shopping at Trader Joes where only 35 people are allowed in the store at a time.  “I was doing my best to stay away from people, but others were not following the guidelines to stay 6 feet apart like you think everyone would,”  Luke said.

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2018 Awards of Excellence Ceremony

We are proud and excited to announce the recipients of the 2018 Awards of Excellence, which go to high school seniors who are children of our First Responders and have demonstrated commitment to community.

The Awards of Excellence are made possible by our Booster Club.

Police Recipients

  • Izabela Gonzalez, Skutt Catholic High School
  • Kacie Shields, Millard West High School
  • Kayle Byrd, Bellevue West High School
  • Reed Fitzke, Fremont High School
  • Sierra Morris, Elkhorn South High School

Fire Recipients

  • Ashlyn Dippel, Fort Calhoun High School
  • Daniel Kirchofer, Creighton Preparatory
  • Delaney Doyle, Bellevue West High School
  • Holly Komenda, Raymond Central High School
  • Josie Andersen, Papillion La Vista High School

The recipients were recognized at a ceremony at Champions Run on April 26th.

FRF Proud Sponsor of Firefighter Training Program for Youth

The Tri-County Fire Corps Exploring Program is a 10-week training program that gives young people a sense of what it’s like to be a firefighter. The program celebrated its first graduation earlier this month.

Youth participants receive instruction in CPR/AED, fire extinguishers, ropes and knots, hose rolls, search and rescue, ladders, hazmat awareness, and ventilation.

We are a proud sponsor of this effort that pulls together paid & volunteer fire departments in a joint training program – the first of it’s kind.

We Installed 323 Alarms for Homes in Need!

On Saturday, May 12 in Bellevue, First Responders Foundation in partnership with the American Red Cross were able to install 323 alarms and made 70 homes safer! We also sent volunteers to help.

Detectors are essential for your family’s safety – but not every home is equipped with these life-saving devices. Even if they are, the batteries may be missing or dead. Other homes may have a smoke detector but not a carbon monoxide detector, which is the only way to be alerted if the odorless, invisible, and lethal gas is seeping into an unventilated home.

Learn more and request a detector here.