|
|
Grieving Behind the Badge
eNewsletter |
March 2012 |
 |
 |
This issue is dedicated to the memory of my friend and mentor, Jim Perry, Captain (retired) Los Angeles Fire Department, IAFF Local 112 and Editor of the Los Angeles Fire Fighter newspaper for 30 years.
---------------------------------------
Jim and I met through an email in the mid 1990's. I had just written the Grieving Behind the Badge training program as well as posting
 | | Jim Perry1939 - 2009 |
my first articles for firefighters on the Emergency Grapevine website hosted by a mutual friend, retired LAFD firefighter, Jerry Smith. After several emails, Jim offered to feature one of my articles in the LAFD union newspaper. To say I was thrilled is an understatement. Over the years, Jim elevated me to staff writer and with his help, I received several awards for my writings.
Jim was not only a strong supporter of my efforts to help firefighters, he also served as a board member for my non-profit company, The Sweeney Alliance. He was never too busy to reply to an email or talk with me on the phone when I needed his expert opinion.
Like so many people whose lives Jim touched, I was distressed and saddened by his untimely death. I miss his candor, his honesty, his laughter, but most of all, I miss his friendship. |
|
|
|
<><><><><>
 Grieving Behind the Badge
Training Program
"Improving the lives of emergency response professionals"
Since 1997, the Sweeney Alliance has taught the
Grieving Behind
the Badge
program to countless emergency responders, their families, and department chaplains. A unique, inter-active training that addresses traumatic stress, grief, and suicide prevention. It is a compliment to critical stress management courses you may already have in place.
 | |
Learn more about our program |
|
| Share Your Story
I believe that one of the many benefits of walking through grief or having to cope with traumatic events is being able to share what you have learned with others who are struggling with unpleasant events in their life.
If you think you might like to share your story in an upcoming eNewsletter, let me know. You do NOT have to be a gifted writer or have a degree in English Literature. Just a desire to help someone will do.
If you are interested, email me and I'll get back with you.
~~Peggy Sweeney |
|
If you are NOT a regular subscriber to this newsletter then....
|
Recommended
Reading
An ever-growing list of books for coping with grief and other traumatic evnts. If you have a book you'd like to share with others, please send Peggy an EMAIL and she will add it to the list.
 click on the books |
Journeys Through Grief eNewsletters
are published by
The Sweeney Alliance
1601 Quinlan Creek DrKerrville, TX 78028
830.377.7389
EMAIL Editor
Peggy Sweeney
Permission given to duplicate articles. Please give credit line.
|
Take Our Survey
I hope that you have found this first Grieving  Behind the Badge news-letter to be informative and helpful. Please help me learn what my readers would like in future issues. Thank you for taking the time to complete our survey.
|
|
Greetings!
Welcome to the first issue of the Grieving Behind the Badge eNewsletter. An online resource for emergency responders by emergency responders. Each issue will feature articles and resources about topics relating to your professional, as well as, your personal life. My goal is to provide you and your family with information to help you cope with everyday stressors and traumatic work experiences.
As many of you already know, traumatic stress and grief are taking a toll on the men and women in emergency response. PTSD is a REAL problem and suicide in the fire service is escalating at a very rapid pace. I have invited men and women on the front lines of emergency services and law enforcement to share their personal stories about the other side. That side of our jobs civilians do not understand or appreciate.
Thank you for your interest in and support of the Journeys Through Grief ~ Grieving Behind the Badge eNewsletter .
Peggy Sweeney The Sweeney Alliance |
Firefighters at Risk
by Peggy Sweeney
President, the Sweeney Alliance
In 2000, I wrote a research paper on the effects of traumatic stress and grief on firefighters. As a firefighter, EMT-B, and mortician, I witnessed first-hand the physical, mental, and emotional traumas these men and women experience daily in the field. I strongly believed then, as I do today, that programs must be provided to help reduce the staggering number of heart attacks, suicides, unhealthy addictive behaviors, and high divorce rates in the fire service as well as the emergency medical service and law enforcement communities in general. Continue reading.... |
The Emotional Impact of 9/11 on the FDNY ~ A Personal View
by William Groneman III
FDNY Captain (retired)
The Fire Department of the City of New York was no stranger to grief by the summer of 2001. Since its inception as a paid, professional department in 1865 the FDNY had lost 796 of its own in the line of duty.[1] The latest occurred as recently as August 28 when a young firefighter lost his life at an auto body repair shop fire. At the time the department was still reeling from an explosion and collapse of a hardware store fire on Father's Day at which three seasoned firefighters died. Eight children were left fatherless on Father's Day. Everyone in the department thought that it just couldn't get any worse than this, right up until the morning of Tuesday, September 11. Continue reading.... |
Issues of Depression and Suicide in the Fire Service
by Shannon Pennington
Senior Chief and Founding Member
North American Fire Fighter Veteran Network
We are Killing Ourselves Through Suicide!
N.L.O.D.D./S (Non Line of Duty Death, Suicides).
First and foremost a huge thank you to the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation for taking this subject on under the Everyone Goes Home Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Section 13,  Mental Health and Wellness of the 16 components for our safety in the most dangerous profession in the world. At North American Fire Fighters Veteran Network (N.A.F.F.V.N.) there has been a direct presence and information about suicide prevention in our service using the F.I.R.S.T. S.T.E.P. H.O.P.E. program since 2006. Continue reading.... |
"Going In"
by Skip Strauss
Emergency Ministries
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will
be with you wherever you go."
~ Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
FDNY firefighter Mike Kehoe was interviewed by a British newspaper (The Mirror) shortly after
9.11.01. He said to the reporter, "Our job was to get up to the floor where the plane had actually hit to reach people there and that's what we were determined to do." He says: "As we were going up, people were saying, 'Good luck', 'lots of luck' and things like that. Sure I was frightened - but I was just doing my job and wish we could have done more." Continue reading....
|
Firefighters for Fun
by John Bartleson
Firefighter/Paramedic (retired)
Firefighters for Fun
Firefighters For Fun non-profit was started 30 years ago by John Bartleson, a firefighter and paramedic with the Bellingham (WA) Fire Department, in response to what he saw as needless death and injury in fires and other emergencies that he dealt with on a daily basis. John saw that many children and families lacked awareness and training in fire prevention and basic life safety techniques. He knew that he could help people by providing fun, informative classes which not only get the information across, but open the dialog within each family about how they will prepare for and handle their emergency. Continue reading.... |
The Faces I Have Seen
by Art Zern
Battalion Chief
Des Plains (IL) Fire Department
I saw that face again today..... I saw that  face again Tuesday, you know the one. The face, of a fellow human being, that had just witnessed an event that would remain etched upon their mind.....forever. I have seen the face countless times over the 30 years I have been doing this job. Continue reading.... |
Disabled Public Safety Officer Fairness Act of 2011
by Mike Nicholson
Volunteer Firefighter (Disabled)
A Facebook post ny Mike Nicholson to Shannon Pennington, North American Fire Fighter Veteran Network, on February 17, 2012
Shannon, thanks for letting me join your group. My name is Mike Nicholson. I'm a total permanent disabled volunteer firefighter injured in 1972 while I was directing traffic to a fire for the Bushnell's Basin Volunteer Fire Dept in the Town of Perinton in New York back in October 31, 1972. I was 17 years old at the time. I suffered numerous broken bones, internal injuries plus was in a coma for three and a half weeks.
Since my accident I have been able to assist in the writing and drafting of two bills in New York with the Fireman's Association of the State of New York that alter the way workers' comp disability benefits are paid out to total permanent disabled volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers in the State. Those bills were successfully signed into law by Governor Pataki in 1996 and 1998. I am a strong advocate of disability benefits for injured firefighters throughout the country. Continue reading.... |
The Slow Death of a Firefighter
Timothy O. Casey
Firefighter/Paramedic (retired)
Author
As a firefighter/paramedic for more than 30 years, I can safely say I have pretty much seen it all. I have seen death in every incarnation and life as well. We on the front lines are not invited politely to join in the fray of life; no, we are thrust into chaos on a daily basis, it's our job.
It is to say the least an unusual profession, no two days are alike and no two emergencies are alike. The environment is rarely predictable and the events and people even more unpredictable. Yet we go. But the average or normal person cannot share our expereinces, they can't even imagine what we do or see. Continue reading.... |
About Us
The Sweeney Alliance
Mission Statement
The Sweeney Alliance, a non-profit, Texas-based organization, provides training programs and educational material relating to grief, post-traumatic stress, and suicide prevention for the public in general as well as emergency response communities and their families in North America. We promote a mentally healthy work environment through cooperation with local, state, and national fire service and law enforcement agencies and organizations.
Peggy Sweeney
Founder and President
1601 Quinlan Creek Drive
Kerrville, TX 78028
830.377.7389
EMAIL
back to the top |
|
|
|
|
|
