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February 2024
NEWFOUNDLAKELIFE.COM
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Community
RTNH
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dling mental health issues within our ranks. We do a great job assisting the public with mental health problems, but we don’t do a good job with our own mental health. This job forces you to see and deal with things that people should not have to see and deal with. Child abuse, sexual assault, death, and drug addiction are just a few things that police deal with daily, and situations can get even worse than that if an officer is forced to take a life. Police offi- cers have not been taught about the stress these scenarios present and how to deal with it. Thank- fully, the old way of thinking
about suppressing your feelings, not talking about your emotions and thoughts on what you saw and went through, is going by the wayside. The academy now has instruction on these topics, and the evolution of peer sup- port has come a long way. Of- ficers now have peer supporters, teams for debriefs from critical incidents, access to clinicians, and even residential facilities if the need arises. Hopefully, these efforts will continue to reduce of- ficer suicide and allow people to access any help they need to get through whatever difficulties they encounter.”
LaMotte stresses that you do not have to be in crisis to receive peer support. The benefits of
early connection are abundant. Studies have shown that early connection prevents burnout, Post Traumatic Stress Injury, substance misuse, and suicide. “Peer Supporters are relatable, they listen, and they may provide resources if requested to help
with stress responses related to work, home, or something else.”
Not only does Peer Support offer individual support, but it also offers group processes after critical events. Just like individ- ual, group support is confidential, never documented, and volun- tary. The structured groups are designed to diffuse and process events that are above and beyond the already stressful calls they re- spond to every day. “The Terri- ble Ten” list includes some of the events that may be responded to by a Peer Support Team. The list consists of a line-of-duty death, the suicide of a peer, serious line-of-duty injury, multi-casu- alty events, not saving someone, prolonged incidents, personally threatening situations, events with excessive media interest, or any highly distressing event.
RTNH's mission includes raising funds to help pay for the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation Group and In- dividual Peer Support Training.
This model is recognized and required for responders and vet- erans to join regional Critical In- cident Stress Management Peer Teams in New Hampshire. The other component is fundraising for RTNH Peer Facilitated and other Wellness Programs to pro- vide opportunities to mitigate work and life-related stress re- sponse for responders, veterans, and their families.
RTNH is a relatively small 501c3 organization. The or- ganization is headed by Aimee LaMotte, its Director, five board members, and a handful of vol-
unteers. It takes quite a lot of support for the success of these programs, and a lot of veterans and first responders have or will benefit. Although these programs are considered important, Peer Support programs are often not funded by municipalities or small departments due to budget con- straints and sometimes a lack of understanding about what Criti- cal Incident Stress Management Peer Teams do.
For more information or to donate, please visit www.re- sponderstogethernh.org.
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