On March 6, 7 and 8 over 100 First Responders from Charlevoix County and surrounding areas participated in a HAYO Training Program. HAYO stands for, “Hey, Are You Okay?” and was led by Chief Alan Styles from Dalton Township Fire Department. The participants learned to reach out and support one another in times of crisis, personal and professional.
Unfortunately, First Responders have a high rate of suicide due to the trauma they face in saving the lives of others. This was a kick-off to a year long program to assist First Responders from around Charlevoix County to develop a Peer to Peer Support Program for one another.
The training for April has been postponed until September due to our current pandemic. As a result of this program with funding through a grant from the East Jordan Family Health Center, counseling from local professionals at the East Jordan Family Health Center and BASES in Charlevoix will be able to assist First Responders and their families to address trauma and other issues that may arise.
The 3 day training for 30 First Responders representing all of the different Fire and EMS agencies around Charlevoix County to be held September 17-19 is also funded through the grant where a representative from the Tania Glenn & Associates organization from Texas will come and conduct the training for the Peer to Peer program.
No one realized in early March how much things would change so suddenly and how much we would rely on our local first responders. At this time, we owe a great debt of gratitude to these individuals and all of our health care professionals throughout the world for risking their lives on a daily basis to help another.
For more information about this program, please contact Scott Kelly, Executive Director at BASES in Charlevoix. 231-547-1144 or scott@basesrecoverycenter.org or check out basesrecoverycenter.org
