Jason
My dream was to be a Police Officer. I started in public safety as a volunteer EMT in January 1997 while in college for my Criminal Justice Degree. I was in the process of applying to become an officer with the local Sheriffs office, just having the physical agility part left. And on 11/6/1997 I was accidentally shot. So I looked into different careers in law and landed on Police Dispatcher. I thrived under pressure... loved the adrenaline rush. Shootings, car jackings, high speed chases, you name it. Soon, the officers began to feel like family. I became protective over these officers, my family. And that's what made March 7th, 2015 even more difficult.
A blue call came over the radio. Someone called to report a wrecked cruiser in their back yard. The officer was not responding to my call. I sent everyone there, but cautioned them about the bad road conditions - it was a particular cold, wet, slippery March night in Maryland. My first arriving officer deemed it a fatal accident. Vowing to never leave an officer on a call, I worked through the end of my shift, into the next day shift, until everyone had cleared the scene. The entire event was a gut punch. I went home mid day, couldn't sleep, and was expected back in the evening for my second night shift. No one asked how I was doing. I jumped back in the seat and worked. Over the next year I would handle several incidents that would continue to pile up on me emotionally... officer ran over, officer shot, cruiser rammed, bank robbery... all leading to departmental shootings. I had dealt with these before, but never so close together.
I started to become physically ill.
I would go on to spend most of 2016 in and out of the hospital and doctors offices. I was misdiagnosed multiple times. Finally a brilliant hematologist/oncologist Dr. DeMonaco, sat down with me. He told me I was physically ill because I was anxious and stressed. He sent me to a psychologist in Baltimore who dealt with first responders. It only took 15 minutes for this professional to see what was really going on. PTSD. From there I was sent to mulitple county referred counselors. They were afraid to say what it was and where it came from. Work related PTSD. And I was afraid to open up. Afraid Id be labeled broken and thrown away. That would eventually be the case.
I finally came across Dr. Keeton, who had experience with Public Safety and First Responders, including Dispatchers. We met every week. I didn't get worse. But I needed to get Better. Then came the Psychiatrist... and the medications. What started as one, became 15 different meds. 60 pills a day. One doctor even put me on medical marijuana in addition to all of the pills. I began to sleep 20 hours a day. And passing out. Falling. Hitting my head and almost going through a second story glass door. Things were bad. And a chance encounter at the local county fair would set me on the right path.
Kathy and our son went to the county fair in September of 2019 and came across the WarFighter Advance booth. They worked with military members suffering with PTSD. In talking with Jim Buckingham, they realized he and I had ran at the same firehouse. He was sad to hear how bad things had gotten with me. He would try to help. He asked the organizations founder, Dr. Vieten if they could bring on a public safety / first responder in need. I was invited to their 18th Evo that same Fall. I was so heavily medicated that I didn't absorb everything. But it was enough to get me on the right path to become free of the meds, and really start to heal. By October 2021 I was completely done with psych meds.
I owe a debt to WarFighter Advance that I continue to attempt to repay by going back to the program several times a year to volunteer as a mentor and now Regional Deputy. Although I help others in their healing, it continues to be therapy for Me, too. It is also part of my healing process to raise awareness of the importance of mental health in the Emergency Dispatcher community. As well as trying to fight for the recognition of Emergency Dispatchers as First Responders in the eyes of the law. And this is done through Our organization,
The Thin Gold Line Foundation.
My dream was to be a Police Officer. I started in public safety as a volunteer EMT in January 1997 while in college for my Criminal Justice Degree. I was in the process of applying to become an officer with the local Sheriffs office, just having the physical agility part left. And on 11/6/1997 I was accidentally shot. So I looked into different careers in law and landed on Police Dispatcher. I thrived under pressure... loved the adrenaline rush. Shootings, car jackings, high speed chases, you name it. Soon, the officers began to feel like family. I became protective over these officers, my family. And that's what made March 7th, 2015 even more difficult.
A blue call came over the radio. Someone called to report a wrecked cruiser in their back yard. The officer was not responding to my call. I sent everyone there, but cautioned them about the bad road conditions - it was a particular cold, wet, slippery March night in Maryland. My first arriving officer deemed it a fatal accident. Vowing to never leave an officer on a call, I worked through the end of my shift, into the next day shift, until everyone had cleared the scene. The entire event was a gut punch. I went home mid day, couldn't sleep, and was expected back in the evening for my second night shift. No one asked how I was doing. I jumped back in the seat and worked. Over the next year I would handle several incidents that would continue to pile up on me emotionally... officer ran over, officer shot, cruiser rammed, bank robbery... all leading to departmental shootings. I had dealt with these before, but never so close together.
I started to become physically ill.
I would go on to spend most of 2016 in and out of the hospital and doctors offices. I was misdiagnosed multiple times. Finally a brilliant hematologist/oncologist Dr. DeMonaco, sat down with me. He told me I was physically ill because I was anxious and stressed. He sent me to a psychologist in Baltimore who dealt with first responders. It only took 15 minutes for this professional to see what was really going on. PTSD. From there I was sent to mulitple county referred counselors. They were afraid to say what it was and where it came from. Work related PTSD. And I was afraid to open up. Afraid Id be labeled broken and thrown away. That would eventually be the case.
I finally came across Dr. Keeton, who had experience with Public Safety and First Responders, including Dispatchers. We met every week. I didn't get worse. But I needed to get Better. Then came the Psychiatrist... and the medications. What started as one, became 15 different meds. 60 pills a day. One doctor even put me on medical marijuana in addition to all of the pills. I began to sleep 20 hours a day. And passing out. Falling. Hitting my head and almost going through a second story glass door. Things were bad. And a chance encounter at the local county fair would set me on the right path.
Kathy and our son went to the county fair in September of 2019 and came across the WarFighter Advance booth. They worked with military members suffering with PTSD. In talking with Jim Buckingham, they realized he and I had ran at the same firehouse. He was sad to hear how bad things had gotten with me. He would try to help. He asked the organizations founder, Dr. Vieten if they could bring on a public safety / first responder in need. I was invited to their 18th Evo that same Fall. I was so heavily medicated that I didn't absorb everything. But it was enough to get me on the right path to become free of the meds, and really start to heal. By October 2021 I was completely done with psych meds.
I owe a debt to WarFighter Advance that I continue to attempt to repay by going back to the program several times a year to volunteer as a mentor and now Regional Deputy. Although I help others in their healing, it continues to be therapy for Me, too. It is also part of my healing process to raise awareness of the importance of mental health in the Emergency Dispatcher community. As well as trying to fight for the recognition of Emergency Dispatchers as First Responders in the eyes of the law. And this is done through Our organization,
The Thin Gold Line Foundation.
Kathy
As long as I have known Jason, he would only give minimal details on the calls he would take at work. He was probably trying to protect me from the horrors he heard, and the pictures he would paint in his head. Even with the worst calls, he mostly kept it to himself. And when he started to get sick in 2015, there was nothing I could do to make him better. I was a Physical Therapist Assistant, but his problems weren't just muscle and bone. I walked along side him and advocated for him the best I could. And I also was dealing with our son who had his own medical and behavioral/emotional issues. It became my life. Hospitals. Doctors. Work. Home. Repeat.
When Jason was diagnosed in late 2016 it was a shock. I never knew that mental illness could manifest itself physically in such a radical way. He was diagnosed with the craziest things, including Porphyria, a rare blood disorder that you would literally only hear of on a wild episode of House or Bones. But now its PTSD. Woah. So we started "treatment". And when Dr. Keeton came into the picture, it was advantageous to both of us. He met with the good doctor weekly. I was able to attend several times, and it was therapeutic for me as well. Learning what it was and what it wasn't. How to stay strong, together, and make it through the most difficult times. And we needed it, especially when the meds came on board.
Jason became a zombie that slept most of the day, and night. He could barely keep his eyes open or head up most days. He no longer resembled my husband. He was stumbling, falling and scaring the shit out of our son and myself. There were times I would come home from work and the bedroom door would be closed. I was terrified to open the door. I never knew what I would find on the other side. I never thought he would self harm, he never said anything about that, but I figured the meds would take him from us somehow. But thankfully, when I came across WarFighter Advance - Jim Buckingham and Dr. Vieten - that outlook would change. And I eventually wasn't afraid of what I would find behind that door.
When we made the move to Michigan in 202, it was to continue our family healing process. We had all been fighting so hard. We fought his work for compensation and eventually his job back just so he could properly retire (even though his benefits would be far from proper or fair). Because Emergency Dispatchers are not First Responders in the eyes of most counties or states, they do not receive the same benefits as those that are labeled as such. Police. Fire. EMT.
I started Our organization to make sure that no other ED or their family, will go though what We did. It is my goal to raise awareness of mental health in the 911 call taker and emergency dispatcher community. Through public community events, and fundraisers, our mission is to get resources to PSAPS's here in Michigan and around the Nation. Getting the self help, coping skills and other resources to ED's before they start to struggle with mental health issues. Just like Jason didn't want to leave an officer on the scene of a call, we don't want to leave Dispatchers feeling alone, either.
As long as I have known Jason, he would only give minimal details on the calls he would take at work. He was probably trying to protect me from the horrors he heard, and the pictures he would paint in his head. Even with the worst calls, he mostly kept it to himself. And when he started to get sick in 2015, there was nothing I could do to make him better. I was a Physical Therapist Assistant, but his problems weren't just muscle and bone. I walked along side him and advocated for him the best I could. And I also was dealing with our son who had his own medical and behavioral/emotional issues. It became my life. Hospitals. Doctors. Work. Home. Repeat.
When Jason was diagnosed in late 2016 it was a shock. I never knew that mental illness could manifest itself physically in such a radical way. He was diagnosed with the craziest things, including Porphyria, a rare blood disorder that you would literally only hear of on a wild episode of House or Bones. But now its PTSD. Woah. So we started "treatment". And when Dr. Keeton came into the picture, it was advantageous to both of us. He met with the good doctor weekly. I was able to attend several times, and it was therapeutic for me as well. Learning what it was and what it wasn't. How to stay strong, together, and make it through the most difficult times. And we needed it, especially when the meds came on board.
Jason became a zombie that slept most of the day, and night. He could barely keep his eyes open or head up most days. He no longer resembled my husband. He was stumbling, falling and scaring the shit out of our son and myself. There were times I would come home from work and the bedroom door would be closed. I was terrified to open the door. I never knew what I would find on the other side. I never thought he would self harm, he never said anything about that, but I figured the meds would take him from us somehow. But thankfully, when I came across WarFighter Advance - Jim Buckingham and Dr. Vieten - that outlook would change. And I eventually wasn't afraid of what I would find behind that door.
When we made the move to Michigan in 202, it was to continue our family healing process. We had all been fighting so hard. We fought his work for compensation and eventually his job back just so he could properly retire (even though his benefits would be far from proper or fair). Because Emergency Dispatchers are not First Responders in the eyes of most counties or states, they do not receive the same benefits as those that are labeled as such. Police. Fire. EMT.
I started Our organization to make sure that no other ED or their family, will go though what We did. It is my goal to raise awareness of mental health in the 911 call taker and emergency dispatcher community. Through public community events, and fundraisers, our mission is to get resources to PSAPS's here in Michigan and around the Nation. Getting the self help, coping skills and other resources to ED's before they start to struggle with mental health issues. Just like Jason didn't want to leave an officer on the scene of a call, we don't want to leave Dispatchers feeling alone, either.
