Post-Traumatic Stress and memories of that day linger.

http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Two-years-later-first-responders-still-feel-5938388.php?cmpid=email-mobile#page-3

An excellent article what trained dog teams can do in the face of tragedy and sadness.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20141129/NEWS01/141129111/Lending-a-supportive-paw

K9 First Responders, Inc. is pleased to announce its partnership with The Connecticut Commission on Children.

The Commission is an agency of the Connecticut General Assembly created with bipartisan support in 1985. It has several mandates and focus areas. Notable of which is “The Children and Homeland Security Act” which was written to ensure that disaster plans include planning for children. Connecticut is the only state to involve children annually in issues concerning natural and unnatural disasters.

K9 First Responders, Inc. is proud to support The Commission in their disaster response efforts as well as assisting during local crises.

K9 First Responders, Inc. has been selected to support Fairfield, CT Police Department (FPD) and their Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

Fairfield Police Department’s CIT was formed in June 2011.  It is comprised of Police Officers, Detectives and Dispatchers with special training in the recognition of, and response to, a wide variety of Mental Health and Substance Abuse issues.  The Crisis Intervention Team and Fairfield Police Department aspire to provide the best services possible to individuals and families living with mental illness and take every possible step to connect these individuals and families to the resources they need.

CIT is a team of Police Officers with special training in recognition of, and response to, a wide variety of Mental Health and Substance Abuse issues.  In addition to hours of exposure to many forms of moderate to severe Mental Health/Behavioral Conditions, this training involves further development of skills in interpersonal communications, de-escalation techniques, conflict resolution, and awareness of available Mental Health and Substance Abuse resources.

K9 First Responders, Inc. has signed a “Memorandum of Agreement” with the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) and their Office of Public Health Preparedness (OPHP) to provide support as member of their “All-Hazards Psychological Trauma Coordination Network”.  K9FR is also a network stakeholder.

OPHP is the intersection between public health, emergency medical services, healthcare, and public safety for the purpose of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. As a result, OPHP has preparedness, response, and recovery roles dealing with the health and medical impacts of emergencies, particularly for those most vulnerable.

We are excited to partner with this historic and progressive organization.

Sadly the need for crisis response dogs never lessens.  Our colleagues from Lutheran Church Charities brought 3 of their comfort dogs to be with the students and community of Marysville, WA.  The dogs, Aaron, Luther, and Shami, will remain in Marysville for the week, visiting different locations as needed.

Read about their healing at:

http://tinyurl.com/mtrtkl6 and http://tinyurl.com/pa2h88k

Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted.

K9 First Responders utilizes Active911 digital dispatch system.  Active911 delivers deployment information, maps, and other critical instructions instantly to our teams.  Response efforts are monitored in real time.  It plays a vital role in getting information to our teams quickly with the details needed to respond rapidly.

The on-call K9FR Coordinator takes the caller’s request and then immediately relays the information to the on-call K9FR teams simultaneously.  All personnel have the same information, directions and map links.

Clients are provided a special access e-mail address to send deployment information.  The system in turn simulcasts the information to on-call teams via phone call, text and e-mail.

The result is a rapid response to meet the needs of our clients.

Each year more than 10 million children in the United States endure the trauma of abuse, violence, natural disasters, and other adverse events. These experiences can give rise to significant emotional and behavioral problems that can profoundly disrupt the children’s lives and bring them in contact with child-serving systems.

For therapists, child welfare workers, case managers, and other helping professionals involved in the care of traumatized children and their families, the essential act of listening to trauma stories may take an emotional toll that compromises professional functioning and diminishes quality of life.

Individual and supervisory awareness of the impact of this indirect trauma exposure—referred to as secondary traumatic stress (STS)—is a basic part of protecting the health of the worker and ensuring that children consistently receive the best possible care from those who are committed to helping them.

Source: http://www.nctsn.org/resources/topics/secondary-traumatic-stress

K9 First Responders is pleased to announced it has been accepted as a member of CT VOAD.  A humanitarian association of independent voluntary organizations who may be active in all phases of disaster. Its mission is to foster efficient, streamlined service delivery to people affected by disaster, while eliminating unnecessary duplication of effort, through cooperation in the four phases of disaster: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.

Kate Nicoll is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and K9FR’s Senior LCSW.  She is an active responder in addition to her clinical practice.

Kate earned her Master of Social Work (MSW) from Smith College and her Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from Elms College. She also is credentialed in Animal Assisted Therapy and Education from DePaul University.

K9FR benefits from her 20+ years of clinical experience specializing in helping families cope with severe trauma, grief and illness. Kate’s extensive mental health experience includes work with inpatient medical, psychiatric hospitals, children’s clinic, private practice, homecare agencies and hospice.

Kate was one of the individuals responsible for Public Act 13-114 (crisis therapy dogs) being passed in Connecticut.  She lectures nationally and speaks on the power of body-centered psychotherapy and animal assisted interventions for children.

Learn more about Kate’s Animal Assisted Therapy Programs by visiting the Soul Friends website.