Google thanks First Responders a million times

Google donates $1 million to First Responder Support Network to assist with PTSD recovery

9to5 Google
Ben Schoon
Oct. 26th 2018

The First Responder Support Network (FRSN) was developed by and for first responders. Their goal is to provide education and assistance to those still recovering from incidents that impact their day-to-day life and thoughts, such as a child who didn’t make it or a wounded colleague.

With all of the disasters that happen around the world nowadays, we sometimes forget about the first responders whose career it is to be on-site at these tragic events. Today, Google is donating $1 million to the First Responder Support Network to assist in helping these first responders with PTSD and other aspects of recovery.

Google announced in a post today on The Keyword that the company would be making this donation to the First Responders Support Network. The FRSN provides support for first responders who are dealing with PTSD and other issues following incidents.

The network offers one-week residential programs for first responders to help educate, and help them cope with their situations. The waiting list for this program can often be up to 6 months long.
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Thanking First Responders

Hope for a better future came with 4 paws and a tail

Bill White: Troubled veterans are paired with service dogs. 'This guy's my world'

The Morning Call
Bill White
October 27, 2018

“Many of our veterans have difficulty engaging in treatment due to challenges with verbal processing, anxiety, isolation, etc. In a sentence, you have helped veterans become ‘unstuck’ and offered hope for a better future.” Laura Fahringer of the Coatesville VA

Harold Siegfried and his service dog Phelan (center) meet Oct. 14 with Lt. Col. Mark Phelan's widow, Brenda (right), her daughter April Chau and granddaughters Cora (far left) and Ada. (Harold Siegfried/Contributed photo)

Harold Siegfried was volunteering at ArtsQuest’s Christkindlmarkt two years ago, accompanied by his service dog, Phelan.

Siegfried and Phelan were brought together by Tails of Valor, Paws of Honor, a nonprofit program that trains service dogs to interact with and become companions for veterans who are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and physical disabilities.

All the dogs, rescued from area animal shelters as puppies and trained for on average 18 months, are named for military personnel who were killed in action or who committed suicide after returning home. Phelan was named for Lt. Col. Mark Phelan, who was killed in 2004 by a car bomb in Iraq.

A man who was visiting from East Norriton, Montgomery County, approached Siegfried that day and asked about his dog, a black Lab mix. Siegfried began telling him about the program and that each dog was named for a fallen serviceman or servicewoman.

When he told the man that his dog was named after Lt. Col. Mark Phelan, the man dropped to his knees and began crying.

“What did I say?” Siegfried asked the man’s wife.

“That was his brother,” she replied.
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Help save the demon from PTSD Patrol

The demon of PTSD wants to live and needs your help to make sure it wins more lives. You can help by spreading suicide awareness so that these souls never find hope that they can heal!

Ret. Army Sergeant Major without legs competes with Marines

Army Ranger who lost both legs in Afghanistan inspires runners at Marine Corps Marathon

WJLA 7 News
Victoria Sanchez
October 26, 2018

“When you lose something that you’ve always been with, you feel like, ‘Alright, maybe I’m a little bit less. Maybe I’m not as important.’ I found out by making other people feel better and engaging with other people, it kind of took the place of my legs, you know?” said King.

Cedric King (Victoria Sanchez ABC7)

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The Marine Corps Marathon will host 30,000 people from 64 counties Sunday morning. One of those participants is already inspiring others before the race starts.

Cedric King always has time to talk. Even when the former Army Sergeant Major is gearing up for this weekend’s 10K at the Marine Corps Marathon.

“What’s going on, man? You’ll be out there?” said King to a man walking near the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial.

“Absolutely.”

“Alright. Good deal, man.”
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Suicide Awareness groups need to Stand Down!

Why think about only one way out of pain?

This is the result of all the suicide awareness groups delivering their deadly message. It is all over social media and in every email box filling up with stunts being pulled in your area.

If you have one of these groups, you need to stand down so that the rest of us can do our jobs. If you are serious about changing the outcome, then help us!

Keep all the money you are getting. Most of us do not want it because most of us have been doing the work for free! For the sake of those we are all supposed to be trying to help, help us get the message out that they can heal and suicide is not the only way out of their pain!

Stand Down on the message of death and stand up the message of hope that they can heal. Fight PTSD and #TakeBackYourLife instead of constantly reminding them of how far to many never heard they could!

This video is about first responders, Firefighters and Police Officers as well as National Guards members. It won an award from the IFOC back in 2008 when it was originally uploaded on YouTube.

Local first responder: ‘I felt the only way out was to kill myself’

WHIO
By: Gabrielle Enright
October 25, 2018

Like many full-time organizations, his deputies have access to mental health professionals. However, many first responders argue that more help is needed especially for small police and fire departments with part-timers and volunteers.

Marshall Gorby/Staff

— For most of us, the worst thing that happens at work is our boss gets angry or we lose a client. But for our first responders, work means a daily encounter with danger and death. Ben Norrod's 13 years as a Jefferson Township Firefighter had a heartbreaking start.

"Three months into my career, I had my first full (cardiac) arrest and it was a two-year old child," said Norrod. "We got back to the station and I just sat here and cried and I almost didn't want to do it anymore."

"The pain, it was overwhelming. I felt the only way out was to kill myself," Norrod said.

He is not alone. Suicide rates among first responders in the U.S. are soaring. The latest statistics show 103 firefighters and 140 police officers died by suicide last year. That is compared to 93 firefighters and 129 police officer line of duty deaths.

"If it takes one life, it's a problem," said Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer.
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Report shows emergency responders are committing suicide more than line of duty deaths

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live)- "I think a lot of it has to do with the tendency of firefighters, police officers, EMS workers. We see a lot day to day, and we kind of hold it in a lot. We don't really talk about it," says Dan Fuller, Chief at West Fargo Fire Department.

Emergency responders put their lives on the line to protect and keep us safe.

With the unpredictability of the job comes a lot of stress, which can cause mental health challenges.

A new report shows that in 2017, firefighters and police officers are taking their own lives more times compared to them being killed in the line duty.

First responders are the first ones on scene, seeing some of the most tragic events. This can cause mental health challenges for some firefighters and police officers.

"The job itself is stressful because of the situations that we go to every single day, they're different from one to the next," says Jessica Schindeldecker, Fargo PD Crime Prevention and Public Information Officer.

A report shows that in 2017, there were 103 firefighters and 140 police officers who committed suicide compared to the 93 firefighters and 129 police officers who died in the line of duty.
read more on Valley News Live

‘Ask for Help:’ Husband of First Responder Speaks Out after She Took Her Own Life

SACRAMENTO -- Suicides among first responders are not uncommon.

It's a pain Marc Zayas knows very well.

"She was incredible. She did a lot in her short amount of time," Zayas said, remembering his wife, Chelsea Fox.

Zayas' 36-year-old wife was a former firefighter and veteran 911 dispatcher for the California Department of Forestry for the past 12 years. She excelled at her job but with that came overwhelming stress, chronic back pain and issues with opioid addiction.

"We're dealing with people on their worst day," Zayas said. "They don't call 911 for anything. So, you're dealing with someone on their worst day."

That stress ultimately led to her to take her own life last month.read more on FOX 40 News

CHP officer dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound

A California Highway Patrol officer killed himself Tuesday afternoon near Elk Grove with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the CHP said.

Officer Sean Poore, 31, a nine-year veteran, was found dead in his patrol vehicle, the CHP said.

Sacramento County coroner’s records show he was found on Lambert Road beneath the Interstate 5 overpass, and broadcasts of scanner traffic maintained by Broadcastify.com indicate fire and Elk Grove police were dispatched to the scene shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for a report of an “unresponsive” person.read more on Sacramento Bee

If you have PTSD you have rights you need to know

VERIFY: Do you have to tell your employer you have PTSD?

First Coast News
October 26, 2018

Ex-speaker of the House called VA "unnecessary"

John Boehner thinks the VA is unnecessary!

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 26, 2018

Boehner calls VA 'hopeless,' says it provides 'substandard care' so the headline read. It only took a few more words for John Boehner to tell us how he really feels.

At the Cleveland Clinic's 2018 Medical Innovation Summit, Boehner called the VA "hopeless" and unnecessary, suggesting instead that veterans would receive better care from other hospital systems.

Unnecessary? Seriously? Gee why would anyone in their right mind with any kind of appreciation for our veterans say such a thing? Does he not understand that taking care of our disabled veteran was something they were promised they would receive from us?

John Boehner 8 weeks in the Navy did not make him a veteran or understand them. Now he won't even honor them with the promise we made to care for them!

"They provide substandard care to our veterans who deserve the best care," Boehner said. "If you're a real doctor, you're probably not working at the VA."

 Wonder why he would say such things? After all, it is almost as he has forgotten he is on record trying 60 times to kill off the Affordable Care Act because it was so lousy for the rest of us. You know, the same system he thinks is now better than the VA, along with treating our veterans as if they did not pre-pay for whatever care they need.

When you consider this from his bio, "Former Republican congressman John Boehner was best known as the speaker of the House, holding the position from January 2011 to October 2015," and the fact that also meant that he was in charge of what Bills were voted on, we have his to thank for what was done to our veterans by offering the "substandard" care he was referring to.

We also need to add in this, since he did not simply arrive in Congress as the Speaker.

Boehner rose to power as a Republican member of Congress in 1990, becoming one of the the youngest members of the House. Throughout his tenure, Boehner has held his ground as a staunch conservative, promoting small-government policies. He has been elected 12 times and became speaker of the House of Representatives in January 2011."

Oh, but that is not all there is to his history. 

After graduating from high school during the Vietnam War in 1968, Boehner enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Because of a bad back, he was honorably discharged after eight weeks. Boehner decided to attend college, though it took him seven years to graduate, working different jobs to pay his way through school.

Maybe he hates the VA because of that?

As for the "care" the rest of us receive, Boehner thinks would be just fine for our veterans remember this part.

Obamacare was enacted nearly seven years ago - over Republican objections - in an effort to expand coverage and give new protections for people with pre-existing health conditions and other barriers that left them without insurance. In the past few years, the House has voted more than 60 times to repeal or alter Obamacare, but Republicans had no hope a repeal would become law as long as Obama was president and could veto their bills.

Boehner opts for Obamacare over Medicare

Wonder if he ever saw this video and what the rest of us know about what Congress has not done FOR OUR VETERANS?

Rise of veteran suicides continues...so do stunts

What the order of unhappy Facebook posts say about suicide risk

Desert News
Lois M. Collins
October 24, 2018

Male veterans ages 55-74 had the highest number of suicides, while male veterans 18-34, a much smaller cohort, had the highest suicide rate.

SALT LAKE CITY — The sequencing of social media posts may provide hints that a veteran is in acute distress and at risk for suicide, offering potential to intervene, according to a new study from the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah.

The findings might hold true for others in distress, too.

"How to Use Social Media Patterns to Identify Veterans at Risk for Suicide" was released as part of the Bob Woodruff Foundation's Stand Smart for Heroes series. The study found veterans who took their own lives were more likely to have recently posted about stressful events, followed closely by posts about emotional distress. The reverse — emotional distress and then stressful events — did not have the same association with suicide, said lead researcher and the center's executive director Craig Bryan, a board-certified clinical psychologist.

He said fewer than 5 percent of veterans who took their lives posted anything obviously suicidal on social media, so finding other clues is crucial.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs calls suicide by veterans its "top priority." The department's new data finds suicide by young veterans increased 10 percent from 2015 to 2016, even as the rate among older veterans declined slightly. But between 2005 and 2015, veteran suicides had increased 25.9 percent, while non-veteran adult suicides increased more than 20 percent in that time period. Veterans overall are 1.5 times more likely than the general population to kill themselves.
read more here

I hope you spotted things that you probably never heard of before. If you have been reading this site often, you'd know that already. 

Our veterans over the age of 50 are not on social media yet they need the most help but are getting the least attention!

The suicides have increased, just as the population of veterans has decreased. Much like you can see within this chart from the latest VA report.

Now, if someone could please explain to all the families left behind, why the hell they still support all the stunts for "raising awareness" when the number of veterans killing themselves continues to rise. 

Homeless Veteran William Eugene Weeks Buried with Honor

Oklahoma homeless veteran laid to rest, honored with dignified military services

KOKO News
October 24, 2018

OKLAHOMA CITY
An Oklahoma homeless veteran was laid to rest Wednesday in Oklahoma City. He was given full military honors. Go here for video

Grifters are pretending to have hacked your computer’s camera

Has someone contacted you saying they’ve got webcam video of you? Don’t pay them.

Army Times
Meghann Myers
October 24, 2018

CID recommends covering webcams (perhaps with a piece of black tape), as well as keeping software updated, using a firewall and changing passwords with another device.

Add another one to the list of scams soldiers should be looking out for. Apparently now internet grifters are pretending to have hacked your computer’s camera and taken videos of you or your family, and they’re threatening to release them unless you pay up.

CID is warning soldiers about scammers claiming to have hacked computer cameras to record illicit videos and are now threatening to release them unless they're paid a ransom. (Getty Images)

Army Criminal Investigation Command is warning soldiers and families to beware of this “hijacked webcam” scam, according to a Thursday release from the Army.

“This is a scam. Do not send any payment to the blackmailer even if you receive an email specifically addressed to you,” CID Special Agent Daniel Andrews, with the Computer Crime Investigative Unit, said in the release. “Sometimes the email includes one or more of your real usernames and seems to directly target you.”
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