KERR COUNTY, Texas – How first responders are dealing with their mental health after ongoing recovery efforts from flooding in the Hill Country looks different for those involved.
“We process it the best we can,” Lt. Col. Ben Baker with the Texas Game Wardens said during a Tuesday morning press conference. “We have professionals in place.”
Baker said first responder wellness is a “key component to these operations.” Many of the agencies assisting in the recovery have parameters in place to assist with mental health concerns.
“We’re maintaining and monitoring our first-responder wellness, we’re making sure they have the support,” Baker said. “It’s very tragic whenever you see (a loss of) human life, but to see a child in that loss of life is extremely tragic.”
In Kerr County, first responders are facing long days and, at times, tough images during recovery efforts.
Chris Framstead, a firefighter and paramedic with the Bexar County ESD 4, said search and rescue crews are facing long days.
“So we’re here until they decide to demobilize us for the evening,” he said. “So, that’s, you know, whether that be 8, 9, 10 o’clock at night.”
Framstead is expecting to be assisting with recovery work through the end of the week.
“We’re gonna be here probably for the remainder of the week, as well,” he said.
For those needing to speak with someone regarding mental health, you can call Hill County Mental Health at 877-466-0660 for a 24/7 helpline.
Preston Kinikin a certified first responder chaplain and former military and law enforcement officer is encouraging the communities around the first responders in the midst of the devastation to create peer-to-peer support groups.
In San Antonio he created Warriors of Ramoth where military and first responders create a safe space to talk about the trauma they experience. He says families should look for signs of PTSD in the first responders in the next few weeks and months.
He offers the following list of resources available to first responders in Texas.
More recent coverage of the Hill Country floods on KSAT:
