Looking out for our first responders

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in 1985 when a 21-year-old state trooper was dispatched to an injury crash. This was his first day driving and he hoped this would be a chance to respond to an emergency with all the safety equipment and possibly even help rescue someone. Upon arriving, he finds a 16-year-old distraught and his 17-year-old friend dead under the pickup truck just off the roadway. It's his first day driving, so he's "in charge" of the scene. Parents show up on scene, (just drive up on it), fire/EMS personnel do their jobs, and notifications must be made to various authorities. On top of that, he knows he will be filing charges on the 16-year-old as the driver who caused the crash. Chaotic, tragic, and heartrending as he can hear the parents' reaction to their son dying in the crash. I was that 21-year-old trooper. This scenario plays out across the state and country, every day. While life-altering for the families, this is just another shift for first responders. They may respond to a similar or even worse situation before their tour ends. Tomorrow, next week, next month and for the rest of their career, they will respond to death, conflict, and tragedy until they decide to retire. Some leave early. Just can't deal with the pain, trauma, and sadness. Some drink to numb themselves from the things they see, hear, smell and experience. Some, very sadly, feel their only course of action to escape is to take their own life. Ohio first responders stand ready to protect, defend and provide life-saving services to the citizens of the state of Ohio 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Often, this can put them at risk, both physically and mentally. The Ohio Department of Public Safety/Law Enforcement Initiatives program supports all of Ohio's 92,000+ law enforcement, fire, EMS, corrections and dispatch personnel. I have the honor and privilege of serving as the director of first responder wellness. Prior to my current role, I served as a member of the Ohio State Highway Patrol for 36 years. During the last 2½ years of service with the patrol, I served as the commander of the Ohio ASSIST program, providing pre-critical incident training and post-critical incident aftercare for first responders and their support persons. In 2002, the Patrol created its first peer support program — the Member's Assistance Team. I helped oversee the program until my retirement in 2018. After my retirement, I served as the first responder liaison for Ohio Mental Health & Addiction Services. Back in 2016, I was the commander of cadet training for the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy. We were preparing for the graduation of the current class when I was asked to meet with Patrol Superintendent Col. Paul Pride. Col. Pride said that we were going to create a program to help Ohio's first responder community. It had to be open to all first responders and it had to be free so no one was missed because they couldn't afford to attend. My conversation in NYC planted the seed — this meeting put me on the path I am on today. In the summer of 2021, the Ohio Department of Public Safety wanted to provide training and resources to assist Ohio's first responder community with daily mental challenges. The mission of first responder wellness is to connect public safety agencies with wellness training programs and resources. Being able to transition between these two disciplines provides opportunities for partnerships and being able to assist first responders in accessing the training and resources in their areas. We work closely with state and local agencies' mental health recovery boards and addiction mental health boards across the state, including those in Hancock County. These partnerships include training and serving as a representative and reference for government and private organizations. Click is director of first responder wellness at the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Office of Law Enforcement Initiatives.