By Chief Paco Balderrama and Dr. Anna Courie

Traumatic experiences accumulate over the life of a public safety career. But that’s what you sign up for, that’s your job.

We hear this all too often, and maybe it is true to a degree. However, it does not mean first responders are immune to trauma, which is routinely accompanied by increased stress, mental fatigue and depression. It also does not mean first responders are undeserving of mental health support.

It is estimated that more than one-third of their nation’s first responders are dealing with mental health struggles. First responders experience higher rates of anxiety, burnout, depression, post-traumatic stress and more. [1]

Efforts by the FirstNet Health and Wellness Coalition

While the severity of this crisis expands and unveils itself, public-private collaborations like the FirstNet Health and Wellness Coalition (FNHWC) are working to make lasting and impactful improvements in this area.

Comprised of more than two dozen national public safety organizations representing every discipline and all chain of command levels, the FNHWC recently completed an analysis of America’s public safety and public health landscape, identifying needs, obstacles and potential solutions surrounding first responder mental health.

Our multi-year effort, which is summarized in a newly authored white paper released this past September (read in full below) to coincide with Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, included data analysis; literature review; input from numerous healthcare, mental health, academic and public safety leaders; and a survey of almost 400 first responders.

What they found was a surging enthusiasm among first responders to address their mental health and wellness. One-third of survey respondents wanted their departments to amplify awareness of programs and training opportunities. [2]

Better stress management techniques, physical fitness opportunities, life coaching availability, resilience training and ways to deal with anxiety were all areas of need identified by first responders. The barriers they face in getting these resources – cost, lack of awareness, no time or work-life balance – are familiar to anyone, first responder or not.

The FirstNet Health and Wellness Program, and the Coalition that oversees it, are resources within FirstNet, the nationwide public safety communications network built for first responders and those who support them. It is built with AT&T, in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) – an independent agency within the federal government. Through their close work with first responders building out the FirstNet platform, AT&T and FirstNet Authority officials recognized the need for health and wellness services and established the program. The aforementioned white paper, its study and its results are rooted in those relationships.

Key recommendations for cultural change

The Coalition’s collective work produced five key recommendations aimed at helping departments and individual first responders alike implement healthy behaviors and cultural change:

1. Engaging public safety leadership is essential. First responders want their supervisors to demonstrate and model behaviors of mental health and wellness practices, rather than speak in hypothetical terms about them.

2. Wellness must be integrated into training throughout a public safety career, and beyond. This means starting pre-academy, continuing through in-service training and extending to retirees.

3. Broader, more equitable funding should be allocated at the local and national level. While grants are available and important, they are not always sustainable and equal across all public safety professions. And many municipalities do not prioritize or understand the value of responder wellness for the safety of their communities.

4. They need to publish standards on evidence-based health and wellness programs. Technical assistance centers should also be available as a resource for implementation. First responders are more likely to take advantage of services if they are accessible, affordable and confidential (when necessary).

5. They need to talk about it. Wellness must be part of the broader discussion nationally and locally, within police departments, firehouses, associations and their local chapters, state agencies, hospitals, 911 call centers – everywhere. Although the Topic of mental wellness has increased in frequency, there needs to be ongoing, strategic communication of best practices and lessons learned. And these lessons need to trickle down to the rank and file across their nation.

An essential component for success will be consensus among stakeholders. Advocates and leaders in this space will need to collaborate with their unions, communities, governments and families to ensure activities are universally supported. This needs to be an all-hands-on-deck effort.

Policy and funding changes for sustainable support

Policy and funding changes at the local, state and federal level will be integral. They are eager to see an expansion of grants for all public safety outlets – this includes not only law enforcement, fire and EMS, but also corrections, public safety telecommunicators, emergency management, frontline healthcare workers, and those who support them – to allocate dedicated funding for health and wellness resources. Elected officials and public safety leaders should work together to establish state-level standards for first responder health and wellness programs, and mandate integration of health and wellness education throughout the career life cycle.

Suicide remains a significant risk for emergency responders, with 127 firefighters and 116 police officers dying from suicide in 2020. Unfortunately, they don’t have the full picture since there is no single organization today that systematically tracks the health risk factors facing America’s emergency response personnel.

Further examination, dialogue and innovation across all disciplines and levels of public safety will help us learn more about the complex dynamic between emergency response, chronic stress injuries, individual mental wellness, and overall community health.

Change starts with you. They urge public safety leaders to think outside the box, examine the FNHWC recommendations, pursue wellness opportunities and, most importantly, set the tone. They owe it to every public safety hero to provide services that help them grow from trauma, erase the stigmas, change the culture, and be the strongest first responders they can be.

For additional health and wellness resources click here.

References

1. Purvis M, Fullencamp L, Docherty M. (2020.) Animal Assisted Therapy on Law Enforcement Mental Health: A Therapy Dog Implementation Guide. Bowling Green University.

2. Courie A, Sanati M. (2021.) The FirstNet First Responder Needs Assessment: Driving Towards Targeted Interventions. International Public Safety Association Journal. 1-14.

About the authors

Paco Balderrama serves as Chief of Police for the Fresno, California Police Department and is a member of the FirstNet Health and Wellness Coalition.

Dr. Anna Courie is the Director of Responder Wellness for the FirstNet Program at AT&T.

Responders set up a containment boom after a gasoline spill from the weekend failure of part of a pipeline in northwest Washington state, but federal regulators reported no signs Tuesday of any fuel reaching the Skagit River.

About 25,660 gallons of gasoline spilled after a small tube leading from the main Olympic Pipeline to a pressure-check valve failed on Sunday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release.

The EPA said responders placed an absorbent boom downstream of the spill in Hill Ditch and Bulson Creek, which support salmon and other wildlife and which flow into the Skagit River.

WEST VIRGINIA COUNTY SECURES $500,000 SETTLEMENT IN LAWSUIT OVER CHEMICAL SPILL

There was no sign the fuel had reached the Skagit, the EPA said, and no injuries to wildlife had been observed. The spill prompted the precautionary closure of an elementary school on Monday, but it reopened Tuesday.

Air quality monitoring indicated there was no risk to public health, according to the EPA.

The Olympic Pipeline is operated by the energy company BP and runs along a corridor from Blaine, Washington, to Portland, Oregon, transporting gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from four refineries in northwestern Washington state. In 1999, the pipeline spilled more than 236,000 gallons of gasoline in Bellingham and erupted in a fireball that killed three people.

Sunday's spill was one of the largest in Washington state since 2000, but nationally spills of that size occur with unfortunate frequency, said Kenneth Clarkson, spokesman for the Pipeline Safety Trust, which was formed after the 1999 explosion. There was an 88,000-gallon oil spill in Oklahoma City in September, and a 51,420-gallon spill in Cushing, Oklahoma, in October, he noted.

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"To see another spill of this magnitude from this pipeline is more than extremely disheartening," Clarkson said in an emailed statement. "This time, they are fortunate that nobody was injured or killed; any spill, and especially one of this size, that happens near their schools and into their treasured waterways and salmon habitat is completely unacceptable."

A Jackson city councilman is spreading Christmas cheer by feeding those who serve their community.First responders in Jackson were provided free Christmas Day meals. City Councilman Kenneth Stokes says he wanted to thank the police officers and firefighters for their constant dedication. Stokes said, "I think it's the right thing to do to bring Santa Claus and Christmas to them. Let's feed them absolutely free."Fire Captain Kelvin Reed said he has spent a lot of time away from his family during the holiday to serve his community and appreciated the generosity of the councilman. "We're missing their families and their kids getting their gifts today. They are missing all of that so for Councilman Stokes to do this for us, it really touches their hearts."Stokes says he has been doing this act of kindness for more than 20 years. The food was prepared by celebrity chef Kazzy Ferdinand. The leftover food will go to families in the Jackson area

Vancouver, British Columbia, Dec. 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spey Resources Corp. (CSE: SPEY) (OTC: SPEYF) (FRA: 2JS) ("Spey” or the "Company") announces that it has acquired ownership and control of 1,500,000 common shares (the “Subject Shares”) of First Responder Technologies Inc. (the “Company”). The Subject Shares represented approximately 14.8% of all issued and outstanding common shares of the Company as of September 28, 2023, immediately following the transaction described above, resulting in a corresponding increase in the percentage of shares held by Spey as a result of the transaction.

Prior to the transaction described above, Spey held no common shares of the Company.

The Subject Shares were acquired through a share transfer agreement made between the Company, Spey and Rauni Malhi (“Malhi”), pursuant to which Malhi agreed to transfer the Subject Shares to Spey in consideration of a letter agreement made between Spey and Prospectus Capital Inc. (“Prospectus”) by which Spey granted Prospectus the right to acquire a 100% interest in the LEM Property, located in the James Bay Region of Quebec.

The holdings of securities of the Company by Spey are managed for investment purposes. Spey may from time to time acquire additional securities of the Company, dispose of some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds, or may continue to hold its current position. The Subject Shares were issued at a deemed price of $0.42 per Subject Share, for total consideration of $630,000.

Additional Information

A copy of the applicable securities report filed in connection with the matters set forth above may be obtained on SEDAR+ under profiles of the Company and Spey.

Approved for release by the Board of Directors,

“Nader Vatanchi”

Nader Vatanchi
Chief Executive Officer

About Spey Resources Corp.

Spey Resources is a Canadian lithium focused mineral exploration company which has an 80% interest in the Candela II lithium brine project located in the Incahuasi Salar, Salta Province, Argentina. Spey also holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Kaslo Silver project, west of Kaslo, British Columbia.

For more information, please contact:

Nader Vatanchi,
CEO, Director
nader@speyresources.ca
+1778-881-4631

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, ‎‎‎‎including with respect to Kaslo claims. The Company ‎‎provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying ‎‎information about current ‎‎expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that ‎‎such statements may not be ‎‎appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to ‎‎inherent risks and ‎‎uncertainties that may be general or specific and which deliver rise to the possibility that ‎‎expectations, ‎‎forecasts, predictions, projections, or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that ‎‎assumptions may not ‎‎be correct, and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. ‎‎These risks and ‎‎uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Company’s ‎‎public filings ‎‎under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has ‎‎attempted to identify ‎‎important factors that could cause real actions, events, or results to differ ‎‎materially from those ‎‎described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause ‎‎actions, events or ‎‎results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that ‎‎such information ‎‎will prove to be accurate as real results and future events could differ materially from ‎‎those ‎‎anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or ‎‎revise any ‎‎forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or ‎‎otherwise unless ‎‎required by law.‎

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this ‎press release.‎ They seek safe harbour.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Dec. 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spey Resources Corp. (CSE: SPEY) (OTC: SPEYF) (FRA: 2JS) ("Spey” or the "Company") announces that it has acquired ownership and control of 1,500,000 common shares (the “Subject Shares”) of First Responder Technologies Inc. (the “Company”). The Subject Shares represented approximately 14.8% of all issued and outstanding common shares of the Company as of September 28, 2023, immediately following the transaction described above, resulting in a corresponding increase in the percentage of shares held by Spey as a result of the transaction.

Prior to the transaction described above, Spey held no common shares of the Company.

The Subject Shares were acquired through a share transfer agreement made between the Company, Spey and Rauni Malhi (“Malhi”), pursuant to which Malhi agreed to transfer the Subject Shares to Spey in consideration of a letter agreement made between Spey and Prospectus Capital Inc. (“Prospectus”) by which Spey granted Prospectus the right to acquire a 100% interest in the LEM Property, located in the James Bay Region of Quebec.

The holdings of securities of the Company by Spey are managed for investment purposes. Spey may from time to time acquire additional securities of the Company, dispose of some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds, or may continue to hold its current position. The Subject Shares were issued at a deemed price of $0.42 per Subject Share, for total consideration of $630,000.

Additional Information

A copy of the applicable securities report filed in connection with the matters set forth above may be obtained on SEDAR+ under profiles of the Company and Spey.

Approved for release by the Board of Directors,

“Nader Vatanchi”

Nader Vatanchi
Chief Executive Officer

About Spey Resources Corp.

Spey Resources is a Canadian lithium focused mineral exploration company which has an 80% interest in the Candela II lithium brine project located in the Incahuasi Salar, Salta Province, Argentina. Spey also holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Kaslo Silver project, west of Kaslo, British Columbia.

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For more information, please contact:

Nader Vatanchi,                                         
CEO, Director                        
nader@speyresources.ca                                                                
+1778-881-4631

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, ‎‎‎‎including with respect to Kaslo claims. The Company ‎‎provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying ‎‎information about current ‎‎expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that ‎‎such statements may not be ‎‎appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to ‎‎inherent risks and ‎‎uncertainties that may be general or specific and which deliver rise to the possibility that ‎‎expectations, ‎‎forecasts, predictions, projections, or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that ‎‎assumptions may not ‎‎be correct, and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. ‎‎These risks and ‎‎uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Company’s ‎‎public filings ‎‎under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has ‎‎attempted to identify ‎‎important factors that could cause real actions, events, or results to differ ‎‎materially from those ‎‎described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause ‎‎actions, events or ‎‎results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that ‎‎such information ‎‎will prove to be accurate as real results and future events could differ materially from ‎‎those ‎‎anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or ‎‎revise any ‎‎forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or ‎‎otherwise unless ‎‎required by law.‎

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this ‎press release.‎ They seek safe harbour.