First Responder Wellness Forum In Arroyo Grande Takes A Look “Behind That Badge”
ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (KEYT) - A Central Coast nonprofit hosted a free first responder wellness event at Grace Bible Church in Arroyo Grande on Thursday.
Those who attended have some of the most stressful jobs in the world.
The organization Behind That Badge is offering support for the wellbeing and healing of anyone in a position referred to as a first responder.
Attendees included active duty and retired law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMT’s, corrections officers, dispatchers, emergency room medical staff and more, as well as their spouses and significant others.
“All of us come in with the attitude that we're going to make a difference,” says Sgt. Noel Rivas, in charge of the Goleta traffic unit with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department. “But then eventually you might hit some walls along the way. Maybe, some of the stress that comes in from dealing with some of the people in the community or dealing with the internal stress. And you start to get you start to lose sight of what you really want to do.”
Behind That Badge was founded by Ken and Ruby Wolff, both retired Santa Barbara County law enforcement officers with a combined 30 years of service on the Central Coast.
“We're lucky that we work in the community that we work in and that, more times than not, people come up to us and they thank us for the service,” says Sgt. Rivas. “And I tell you, that means a whole lot to me.”
The organization is built on the belief that individuals behind the badge are personally impacted by what they encounter and experience on the job.
“It's important that we have something like this where we can continue to have a dialog and continue to realize that why we originally chose to be in law enforcement was to help the community,” says Sgt. Rivas.
The keynote speaker, retired captain Dan Willis, who wrote the book “Bulletproof Spirit,” is a proponent of the healing technique E.M.D.R., which uses rapid eye movement to create a kind of reboot in the brain.
“EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing,” says Willis. “What the trauma professional does is they try to replicate REM sleep while the first responder is awake as a way to access the processing part of their brain, which has been injured from the traumas they’ve experienced.”
Each attendee received a free copy of Willis' book and wellness vendors were on site to share information and resources.
“Almost every first responder I have worked with—and I've been in the profession for 41 years—it's a calling,” says Willis. “They're dedicated to do whatever they can to risk or even give their life if needed to protect others.”
To find more information or to support the non-profit Behind That Badge, you can visit their website by clicking here.
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