Cocoa firefighter fighting for PTSD bill: We're not going to stop News 13 Orlando By Julie Gargotta, Reporter April 14, 2017
In January he returned to work. But, for the last few months he's also found new purpose -- fighting for a bill which would extend workers' compensation to first responders with PTSD.
COCOA --
Although the clock is running out on the legislative session, those fighting for a bill which would provide workers’ comp for PTSD-suffering first responders aren’t deterred.
Firefighter Josh Vandegrift was working a scene where a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle, but when he looked at the victim he saw his own brother. The situation left him struggling with PTSD. Now he's fighting to get a bill passed to allow workers' comp for first responders with PTSD. (Julie Gargotta, Staff)
Bill allows first responders suffering from PTSD to get workers' comp Bill in danger in Florida House, Senate Josh Vandegrift, firefighter, fighting for the bill
“We’re not going to stop," said Josh Vandegrift, who is heading to Tallahassee this weekend to share his story during Monday's hearing. “I was stunned, because I can sprain my pinkie on a call and be covered through workmans' comp. But, seeing my little brother dead in the middle of the street isn’t covered.”
A call last July changed the Cocoa firefighter's life forever: While on duty, Vandegrift was dispatched to the scene of a vehicle versus pedestrian crash.
“I’m clearing the people out of the way and I look down. And my brother had a tattoo on the side of his neck and I saw the tattoo. I was like that’s my brother," he said. “I was screaming his name, crying. It was like a flashback of our lives together, because I knew it wasn’t good.”
Emergency crews rushed Vandegrift's youngest brother, Nate, to the hospital, but he died.
“It’s a firefighter or cop’s worst nightmare, is running in on a family member. And it happened to me. And ever since then I’ve been dealing with it," he said.
Ten days later, Vandegrift sought treatment, later diagnosed with PTSD, acute anxiety and depression. The firefighter said that he couldn't eat or sleep, and began immersing himself in wood projects for the therapeutic effects.
“I wanted to make a place for myself and my family to be able to relax. I built a table completely out of pallet wood, took me six weeks. I call it the family table," he said, skimming over a large, lacquered table in his backyard. “It helped me mentally to create something from nothing.”
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Hear 'Voice' Singer Barrett Baber's Emotional Tribute to Fallen Soldier Rolling Stone By Stephen L. Betts 18 hours ago
Inspired by Pirelli's actions, Baber wrote the song, saying, "When I heard the story of Staff Sgt Rob Pirelli, and how, through the outpost he built to protect his fellow soldiers, his legacy remained long after his ultimate sacrifice, I was moved at the depth of this very personal, human story. I'm proud to have been able to tell his story in song."
Barrett Baber, whose full-throated, Southern rock-tinged vocals took him to a third-place finish on Season Nine of NBC's The Voice in 2015, has released "Still Stands," a powerful song from his album A Room Full of Fighters. Penned by Baber with Kenny Lamb, the tune recounts the brave, inspiring story of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Ryan Pirelli, who was killed in action in Iraq in August 2007, but not before leaving behind a combat outpost that would one day bear his name and inspire a documentary film.
A native of Franklin, Massachusetts, Pirelli volunteered for military service in 2003 as a Special Forces (Green Beret) recruit in the Army. Deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2007, he used his engineering skill to establish an outpost in the dangerous Diyala province. The outpost Pirelli built protected American soldiers from harm during his deployment and continued to protect American troops for several years after he was killed. Remembered by his fellow soldiers not only for his ingenuity, bravery and a thick Boston accent, Pirelli, a hockey enthusiast, also spent time teaching local Iraqi children how to play baseball. After he was killed, the combat outpost was renamed Combat Outpost Pirelli in his honor and a symbol to remember him - a sword, lightning bolts and fire – became part of what his fellow soldiers called "The House That Rob Built." read more here
This time, you have to start with saving your own life Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos April 15, 2017 Tomorrow is Easter for Christians around the world. The day Jesus defeated death after everyone thought He had failed to deliver on the promises He made. Think about that for a second. Think of those who knew Him best believing it was all for nothing.
Did they think He should have killed off the Roman soldiers and saved Himself to prove the power of His Father? Did they think they just wasted three years of their lives, enduring hardships as homeless travelers seeking the kindness of strangers as they tried to deliver the messages of hope, love and the promise of redemption? Doing the right things for the right reasons is never easy. Jesus struggled with what He knew He had to do in the Garden but even as He accepted the decision of God to fulfill His mission, He was torn between what He had to do and what He wanted to do. Yet He was willing to pay that price.
Gethsemane 36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” 43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” Matthew 26:36-46New International Version (NIV)
Hyun Kim, former . at U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Written 18 Feb For Christians, being punished or persecuted by others — even by friends and family — for doing the right thing is just par for the course. It is the epitome of martyrdom and reminds me of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5: 10–12~
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and celebrate, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you…” (Matt. 5:10–12)
I also like the verse from James 1: 2–4~
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. “
But just as God had magnificent plans for Jesus and He completed the mission, God also had a mission for you.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
If you are risking your life for the sake of others, you need to be reminded that ability came as a package deal. Everything you needed to pull you into that direction, was within your spirit. You wouldn't have been happy doing something selfish or for the sake of money. Still there is one more thing that was also in you from the beginning. The ability to heal from doing what was asked of you.
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63
There is a passage that speaks directly to you if you are among those chosen to spend your life dedicated toward saving the lives of others.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."John 15:13
That great love is why you feel so much pain within your spirit. You feel it all more than others. It is not "weakness" that consumes you, but the strength of your emotional core.
How is it that you can understand a regular person being stuck by PTSD from one event when you are enduring them over and over again but cannot understand your own pain?
The spirit within you is equipped to defeat the worst your mission did to you. You trusted the guidance of your spirit when you decided to choose the jobs as serving, protecting and defending strangers and you need to trust it now to heal. As the followers of Jesus spent these three days in darkness, forgetting all He said would happen, so have you lived in the darkness of doubting the fact that those you served with were willing to die for you. As you did for them, but if you do not trust them enough to ask them for help to stay alive, then you need to ask yourself why you are above asking for help now when you spent your life helping others. Do you think you are supposed to be stronger than Jesus?
38 Then he said to them,“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
It is true that "no good deed goes unpunished" and no good do'er is ever left to pay that price by themselves.
Let this night be the start of your own resurrection and you awake to the promises being fulfilled in your own life so you can continue to do the mission you were sent here to do. There are many more lives you can save now, but this time, you have to start with saving your own life.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Tom Voss and Anthony Anderson, two Iraq War veterans suffering from depression and suicidal ideation following deployments in Iraq, decided to take a 2,700-mile walk across America as a way to confront their inner pain, according to the flyer for their award-winning film “Almost Sunrise” (almostsunrise@filmsprout.org). Last week, along with other veterans, I viewed the film at North Shore Community College in Danvers, Mass., where I had served as president for 13 years helping build a program that serves upwards of 400 veteran students today. The film records, after they conclude their hike, their subsequent treatment involving silence and meditation, resulting in their self-discovery of the cause of their pain, severe guilt over actions they had taken that affronted their morale self-expectations. In Tom’s case, it was leaving a civilian Iraqi wounded and dying on the side of the road. For me, it was leaving behind an orphanage full of Vietnamese Americans, products of unions between Vietnamese and American soldiers when my unit was removed from the Mekong Delta in 1969. I can relate.
All this awareness raising has not made anyone aware of the reasons they have to live. Most still do not have a clue that PTSD has changed how they are but has not changed who they are.
How they are makes them think the way they used to be is gone forever. Under that pain, it is all still there. They just have to use the same dedication to do their jobs as they do to the job of healing and helping others heal as well. After all, isn't that what their jobs were all about in the first place? Saving lives? What better place to start than with their own so they can turn around and lead others to heal by example?
They do not know the difference between PTSD caused by profession and the type civilians get.
AbstractFirst responders, including military health care workers, public
health service workers, and state, local, and volunteer first responders
serve an important role in protecting our nation’s citizenry in
the aftermath of disaster. Protecting our nation’s health is a vital
part of preserving national security and the continuity of critical national
functions. However, public health and public safety workers
experience a broad range of health and mental health consequences
as a result of work-related exposures to natural or man-made disasters.
This chapter reviews recent epidemiologic studies that broaden
our understanding of the range of health and mental health consequences
for first responders. Evidence-based psychopharmacologic
and psychotherapeutic interventions for posttraumatic distress reactions
and psychiatric disorders are outlined.
Civilians can get hit by PTSD from one event. Now think of how many events all of the above experience throughout their career. Now think about the other fact that far too many of them forget the basic reason they wanted to do those jobs knowing that it could cost them their lives.
What makes their PTSD different and deeper than what civilians get is they willing risk it it all for the sake of other people. They have a deeper level of emotional ability to allow them to do that and that is also why they get hit harder than others. Plus, it is the biggest reason they are so unwilling to ask for help from anyone. These men and women are the ones others depend on. Or that is the way they see themselves. The original basis actually demands they ask for help considering they have no problem depending on those they serve with to help keep them alive doing those jobs topped off being willing to pay any price in order to return the favor. So why haven't they gotten that message? Why haven't they gotten any of the messages they really need to hear loud and clear? We're too busy reading about raising awareness stunts while no one can actually explain who they are trying to make aware of the fact veterans, Police Officers, Firefighters and EMTs are killing themselves. Yep, guess along with leaving out the current Military Suicides on all the awareness, they forgot about all the other jobs.
VA offering training to clergy to help veterans Killeen Daily Herald BY JANICE GIBBS FME News Service April 13, 2017
Building Community Partnerships. Local communities are often the most important and most neglected resources for reintegration of returning service members.
TEMPLE — The VA has training programs for local clergy to assist veterans in their communities.
“We want to reach out to anyone who will help us connect veterans to the local VA,” said Jeffrey Weir, chaplain for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System. “We want to connect with not only clergy, but with helping organizations who serve veterans.”
Weir was the guest speaker at the Care Leadership Team’s April meeting. The Care Leadership Team is made up of people representing local agencies and organizations, communities, churches, schools, volunteers and hospitals who network to share community concerns, information and to connect resources.
“If you run into veterans who have needs we have resources for them,” Weir said. “One issue is that not everyone who says they’re veteran is a veteran. Don’t worry about that, we’ll sort that out.”
Central Texas Veterans Health Care System includes the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Medical Center, Waco VA and six outpatient clinics, including a large Austin clinic.
“We have 39 counties in Texas that we cover and most are rural,” he said. “You could drive in any direction from here and within a few minutes you’d be out in the country.”
Weir talked about training available to clergy. read more here
