A career as a first responder or caregiver can take a serious emotional toll over time. Amy Morgan, a mental health professional and director of the Certified First Responder Counselor program, explores the mental and emotional impact of service careers — including ways to manage anxiety and stress, and striving for a healthy work-life balance.
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Productivity. Finances. A happy public. These things are often impeded by ad hoc technical infrastructure — computer systems built in piecemeal fashion, as needed. But the fix is surprisingly simple.
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Wildfires are in the news more than ever, and their impact on communities, the environment, and fire services professionals has never been more apparent. With more houses popping up on the border between wildland and civilization, here are the basics every fire team, regardless of current function, should know.
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Law enforcement organizations have long known the dangers of traffic stops, but statistics often fail to tell the whole story. Dealing with the practice’s uncertainties and unwanted variables effectively means shouldering a certain amount of risk, despite efforts to improve safety on often-busy roadways — a difficult situation for a field intent on keeping its officers safe.
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For a time, the corrections industry largely viewed automatic administrative segregation (“adseg”) placement as a “silver bullet” to a growing gang problem. Now, with the larger practice of solitary confinement under criticism, it may soon be time to search for new strategies — with the need for better education proving a rare constant.
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Before 9/11, the term, “first responder,” was not widely used, if at all. The term came into common usage in the wake of that horrific day in 2001 to describe the thousands of public health and safety personnel — firefighters, police, EMTs, and others — who responded to the scene of the terrorist attacks, particularly the devastation of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York. While some object to the overuse of the “first responder” term by the media, saying it is more accurate to specify exactly which agencies responded to an incident, the term has continued to be important in addressing the long-term effects of the terrorist attacks on the emergency personnel who were present at Ground Zero.
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As most law enforcement personnel are aware, body cameras are a rapidly emerging technology, but with flaws that may be overlooked by the general public. However, inconsistent recording and video retention policies can do more harm to public perception than a lack of cameras altogether.
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A responder may experience more trauma in a given day than the average worker sees in a lifetime, and the effect can be corrosive. For law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and the collection of other agencies under the response and criminal justice banner, getting employees the right help at the right time is critical.
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An “elephant in the room” for many well-intentioned departments, racial bias is extremely sensitive as a topic — and extremely serious as a potential threat to an agency’s stability. For departments, newfound awareness is key to avoiding embarrassing or damaging outcomes, and training – combined with enhanced delivery and documentation tools – can help get there.
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The recently passed bipartisan First Step Act is expected to reduce recidivism and redefine sentencing laws. For a corrections industry at the center of the recidivism cycle, the next few months should be informative—and possibly industry-shaping.
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