By Dorinda Wolfe Murray | CEO
Supporting the Emergency Services seems almost counter intuitive - surely they are supported already - after all they are our front line of crisis. They deal with all the difficult, exhausting, crisis ridden situations that we find ourselves in and which we hope never to find ourselves in again. And so, as is often the case, once the crisis is past we pretend that it has never happened. But the cost to those who help deal with such situations, who clear up the 'mess' can be, and is often huge and hidden.
And when a crisis such as Covid (or rather a pandemic with - at least initially - no known treatment) erupts onto our scenes not only do those whose mission it was to save lives, step up to the mark again, but for those who cannot, frustration, fear and the effect of vicariously reliving the trauma of what they dealt with, often years ago, is nothing short of disastrous. Which is why the 'echo effect' of crisis situations can be dire on those who were directly affected as well as their loved ones .
And such situations can also affect those close to those who have already been traumatised (if you like a rebound effect). Such a situation is called vicarious trauma.
During this last year we have offered support to a number of Emergency Service veterans, particularly through our cafe hubs. Providing a welcoming, safe space to meet and chat (often out of their immediate area so they cannot be identified by those they may have interacted with) is facing increasing demand. Being able to 'take a break' and decompress is vital to ongoing good mental health and Emergency Service personnel need this in particular.
FirstLight Trust has identified a particular need for this type of support in London, so we are looking at creating a cafe hub in central London that will support exactly this identified need. Additionally we will be looking at delivering training from here around vicarious trauma which will benefit those who deliver the support as well as those who live with it.
We will be expanding this project to encompass support for this London cafe hub which we hope to have operational by the end of 2023. Please help us do this by supporting this project.
By Rose Bradbury | Head of Operational Development and Communications
By Rose Bradbury | Head of Operational Development and Communications
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