LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Trauma intervention volunteers are stepping up to help Las Vegas first responders who have faced numerous crises and tragedies over the past few weeks.
Volunteers with the Trauma Intervention Program of Southern Nevada were dispatched to the scenes of the UNLV shooting, as well as to other locations following the deaths of two Nevada State Police troopers.
The team has 75 volunteers and has responded to close to 2,000 calls for help this year alone. Different agencies call the program hotline to help victims and witnesses at a incident, but they also assist first responders.
“We sent volunteers out the day of the shooting. The next day, we returned to UNLV to support the emergency responders who were involved…flashbacks were had for many people, myself included,” said CEO Jill Roberts. Many first responders also responded to the One October tragedy.
“More police officers die annually from suicide than die from ‘in the line of duty’ deaths. That shows how important emergency responders mental health is,” she said.
Roberts said the public can also help first responders in their own way.
One way that the community can support emergency responders is just by simply thanking them. Thanking them for their service and for doing the hard work that they do,” she said.
Roberts said there are about 1,000 first responders trained in trauma intervention to help their peers and members of the public they encounter at various incidents.
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