Emotional Body Armor for #1stresponders

Emotional Body Armor for #1stresponders

Emotional Body Armor for First Responders… 

Is an intensive one or two-day workshop identifying those issues that manifest while working on the front lines of a demanding career that can lead to many issues regarding (but not limited to) trauma, relationships, finances, mental health and substance abuse matters that can result in the loss of relationships, jobs and eventually their life.

The workshops are designed for all first responders and their family members if they choose and to provide them with the tools to help individuals being held back both personally and professionally by the bonds of addictive behaviors, co-dependency, family systems or trauma in any form. Participants will examine those barriers and experiences that influence the capacity for a happy, healthy life and career. The intensive workshop experience will reveal how painful life and job experiences are and that they can hamper the growth of individuals and block the ability to be authentic in relationships with self and others.

While there is a stigma associated with reaching out for help or reaching out for help for others within the profession, the intensive workshops are designed to overcome these barriers. The intensive workshops are also designed to empower first responders to look within and confront issues (both on and off the job) such as trauma, co-dependent relationships, setting healthy boundaries, using tools to increase self-esteem, to understanding and effectively experience all emotions and creating a tactical personal self-care plan to be successful in their personal and professional lives.

Target Audience:   Emotional Body Armor for First Responders "Breaking Free from the Stigma and Bonds of the Badge" was designed specifically for public safety employees and their family members nationwide.

For more information contact Captain Brian Nanavaty at bn@safecallnow.org or 317-339-5118

Safe Call Now®'s Peer Support & Mentoring Training

Safe Call Now®'s Bulletproof Training Series

We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give” – Winston Churchill 

Peer support and mentoring programs are usually found in the most effective and Innovative organizations. Employee peer support and mentoring promotes a smoother transition for new hires and results in long-term individual and career growth and crisis avoidance. However, less than 1% of public agencies have formal peer support and mentoring programs and most provide little or no training or referral resources. 

Peer support is an integral part of early crisis intervention and involves trained peers responding quickly and effectively to peer distress. Mentoring enhances peer support programs in that it is developmental based and long term. This 2-day Bulletproof Series instructional course provides Peers and Mentors with a proven methodology of successful crisis identification, peer interaction and internal and external resource utilization to promote the healthy development of employees at work and at home. This training is a natural complement to CISM and other peer support training programs.

*Consultation on designing and implementing an employee peer support and mentoring program for your agency is available.

For more information contact Safe Call Now®’s Director of Training and Curriculum, Captain Brian Nanavaty at bn@safecallnow.org

Substance Abuse & the First Responder Population

Safe Call Now®'s National Report on Substance Abuse and the First Responder Population

 

 

 The most potentially dangerous and seldom mentioned issue facing public safety personnel today is the existence of substance abuse and addiction among its ranks.  With reported abuse rates over twice the national average for the general population, many of those entrusted to protect and serve the communities of America are struggling to hold their own lives together.  For those public safety employees fighting the demons of substance abuse and addiction, they are also challenged by working within a professional culture that has historically discouraged them from asking for help.  In fact, many public safety professionals who divulge their struggles to employers and seek assistance are given the option to quit their job or be let go.  The result, they keep their substance abuse and addiction a secret.  This dysfunctional way of doing business produces shattered lives for those personally impacted by the substance abuse and addiction, as well as a potentially perilous situation for the general public.

 

 

Safe Call Now^®, a non-profit organization, offers nationwide, comprehensive crisis referral services for all public safety employees and their family members.  Established and managed by public safety officials, Safe Call Now^® recognizes firsthand the stressors first responders encounter and offers a broad array of training, as well as a confidential, 24/7 crisis hotline staffed by current and former public safety employees. Additionally, Safe Call Now^® is dedicated to erasing the stigma surrounding substance abuse and is committed to creating programs designed to save the careers and lives of those impacted by it. While Safe Call Now^® is staffed to handle a wide array of crises, this document focuses on how the organization addresses substance abuse and addiction in the public safety population.

 

To read Safe Call Now®'s entire national report  Click here

Gordon Graham... Saving the Lives of #1stresponders

By Gordon Graham

Gordon Graham here and thanks for taking the time to read this rambling on important things going on in the world of public safety in general and law enforcement in particular. If you have been to any of my live programs over the last 35 years, you know my focus in life is getting more and more people to understand the value of real risk management. While there are many definitions for risk management, I like the simple approach: What can go wrong and what can I do to prevent this from going wrong?

With the above in mind I am asking you to do what I do every morning. One of the first websites I visit is www.policemisconduct.net. This site is sponsored by The Cato Institute and they collect information daily on some of the things going wrong in law enforcement organizations around the U.S.

When you read this, I am asking you to ask this question: What control measures do we have in place to assure that this never happens to anyone in our department? As I have read these news stories for quite some time, I continually ask questions like the following: What control measures do we have in place to prevent patrol cars from being stolen on traffic stops? What control measures do we have in place to prevent cops from pulling out their pistol when they wanted to use the TASER? What control measures do we have in place to prevent this quadruple fatal at the end of a pursuit?

#1stresponders... Is Your Administration Killing You???

By Safe Call Now®

There is one common theme that is presented to me over and over as I travel around the country for Safe Call Now®…  “  I can handle everything on the streets but my “Administration” is killing me… literally.”  If you’re an administrator reading this, please take note, your own are reporting that you are taking their lives.  Did you know by the year 2020 one of the top workplace disabilities will be anxiety and depression???  Where this is coming from, the studies indicate is from you…  

The number one concern from the “boots” on the ground is that words do not match actions which leads to a double standard.  This is an unhealthy balance in boundaries and ego states, I’ll go into this later.

In an informal survey first responders reported to me that the phrases they most commonly hear from administrators such as, “breadth and depth, threshold, projections for the future, committed towards growth and advancement, committed to ensuring, internal and external initiatives, as we traverse into the future, and the administration engages in periodic discussion, along with many others…  This circular talk demonstrates to them that the administrator can’t or won’t answer the question or has no idea what they’re talking about.  

 For the “boots”, everything you said before these terms is now hollow and the rest after these terms means nothing and they stopped listening.  I once knew a chief that was let go over the term breadth and depth that was used over and over.  As William Shakespeare presents in Macbeth… “A tale told by an idiot… full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”

People Quit People... Not Professions

Steve Gutzler and Emotional Body Armor

"It's powerful when the first responder believes in the leader. It's more powerful when the leader believes in the first responder."

I often ask first responders at my leadership presentations... "Have you ever followed a bad leader?" I usually receive a resounding chuckle or groan. If I ask for a raise of hands, it's almost always a 100% response in agreement.

My follow-up question is: "How many of you have ever quit a job or made a job change because of a bad leader or bad relationship at work?" Again, an overwhelming response. 

The latest statistics estimate between 65-75% of people leaving companies do so because of their manager. So what kinds of leaders and managers do employees quit?

 

1. People quit people who are insecure and manipulate their power and position. These are leaders who project fear, suspicion and distrust.

1. People quit people who break trust.  People who are inconsistent in what they say and do. They withhold information and tell half-truths. 

 

1. People quit people who limit potential. When a leader has a small self-concept they tend to project smallness on to others, limiting opportunities and personal potential. 

 

1. People quit people who treat others as an object. These are leaders who manipulate others for their own purposes and goals. Treating team members as objects rather than individuals to be valued and esteemed. 

 
 

Gordon Graham... What can go wrong, will go wrong...

By Safe Call Now® Advisory Board Member -Gordon Graham

Gordon Graham here and thanks for taking the time to read this rambling on important things going on in the world of public safety in general and law enforcement in particular. If you have been to any of my live programs over the last 35 years, you know my focus in life is getting more and more people to understand the value of real risk management. While there are many definitions for risk management, I like the simple approach: What can go wrong and what can I do to prevent this from going wrong?

With the above in mind I am asking you to do what I do every morning. One of the first websites I visit is www.policemisconduct.net. This site is sponsored by The Cato Institute and they collect information daily on some of the things going wrong in law enforcement organizations around the U.S.

When you read this, I am asking you to ask this question: What control measures do we have in place to assure that this never happens to anyone in our department? As I have read these news stories for quite some time, I continually ask questions like the following: What control measures do we have in place to prevent patrol cars from being stolen on traffic stops? What control measures do we have in place to prevent cops from pulling out their pistol when they wanted to use the TASER? What control measures do we have in place to prevent this quadruple fatal at the end of a pursuit?