Support for Homeland Heroes

Support for Homeland Heroes
by SHELLY on JULY 27, 2012

Did you know that around 38% of Fire Rescue personnel and 32% of Emergency Dispatchers suffer from symptoms of PTSD? Or that every 17 hours a law enforcement officer takes his or her own life? The suicide rate among correctional officers is estimated to be even more than double that rate. These devastating statistics are provided by Serve & Protect’s website.

Serve and Protect is more than just an online presence. It is an organization dedicated to providing emotional, educational and spiritual support to Homeland Heroes (law enforcement, fire/rescue, corrections and emergency dispatch personnel) across the country and around the world. “The emotional trauma of the job, post traumatic stress, depression, and emotional isolation are killers,” says S and P. “Serve and Protect is there to care, help, and listen rooted in experience on the job and a rock solid network of partners and affiliates”.

Senior Chaplain Robert Michaels founded Serve & Protect in 2011. He knows all too well how first responders and criminal justice professionals put their lives on the line and the trauma they witness in the line of duty. Before embarking on his pastoral training, Michaels served for the 229th Military Police Battalion of the Virginia National Guard and as an officer and detective for the Norfolk Police Department. Serve and Protect’s board of directors, advisors and staff are also made up of individuals who have served as homeland heroes. For example, Dr. Melissa Riley, who has extensive experience counseling individuals suffering from PTSD, and other forms of mental illness, has 19 years experience working in fire/rescue.
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This PTSD I Grieve about National Guards and Reservists coming home and risking their lives back here after they risked them in combat. I did it for them but it turned out it was helping police and firefighters.