First Responders take care of us; who takes care of them?
Pre-crisis care is often overlooked in an industry that is, by necessity, reactive. But we know that if we take a proactive approach, say, fire prevention, for instance, we will need to expend less time putting out fires.
How do we provide an environment of pre-crisis support for first responders? Simple!
We Create Community Together
The sense of belonging that community-building creates is essential; without community, many people experience feelings of isolation, depression, loneliness, addiction, and despair and this is something that first responders should never experience!
Are Your Members a Team?
Chances are, your first responders already are a team, but we’re talking about something much more profound and lasting than that – a community. There is a great difference between team building and community building and this difference is what creates a pre-crisis support group, something team building alone cannot do.
Shouldn’t the people who take care of us during our darkest moments have the support of a community before the pressures build to an intolerable level? This is often when post-crisis support appears. By then it’s often too late.
After experiencing the LIFELINES™ program, one of the participants concluded her feedback this way, “I do believe this is the missing start of peer support, crisis resilience and crisis recovery.”
Photo by Austin Kehmeier on Unsplash