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| By Safe Call Now President & Founder Sean Riley |
A dear friend of mine always says and he’s right, “We treat
our cars better than we treat our first responders in addiction who are going
to die”. When the red light comes on in
our vehicles we immediately take the vehicle into the mechanic and have it
assessed, evaluated and fixed. When
we’re dealing with the alcoholic or addicted first responder, the red lights
come on and as a profession we will enable them to protect our partners (blind
loyalty), try to fix the problems ourselves (which only a professional can do)
or cast them aside and throw them away as if it is someone else’s problem (the
easy way out). The diseases of addiction
and mental health when combined are two of the deadliest diseases known to
mankind, yet they are the only two diseases that we allow the first responder
who’s brain is incapable of making logical decisions dictate the terms of
treatment. Maybe for fear of not
offending them, ending their career, who knows there are many other reasons
usually associated with “The Thin Blue, Red, Green Line”.
Ultimately I have determined that the main
cause is that “It’s always been done this way in the past”. This is why Safe Call Now exists, an
organization that is willing to change the culture and thinking of an entire
profession that experiences these diseases at twice the rate of the general
population according to some studies and some say even higher. Who knows?
I just know first responders are dying from it.
I want to educate you about the alcoholic and addict mind
and what the first responder may be thinking and doing when they are in this
situation. I am familiar with this
because I was “That guy”. The guy who
would lie to your face, smile, tell you everything is alright, convince you
that everyone else is crazy, function within the work environment, control the
situations, create drama within others to direct the attention away from me and
convince you that I was right.
Fortunately or unfortunately I do not think like you.
