September 1, 2025 • 36 mins
Wellness isn't just a buzzword—it's a critical component of performance for those who respond to emergencies on the mountain and beyond. This revealing conversation, recorded at the Pacific Northwest Division's annual 2025 Convention, brings together an extraordinary panel of experts from across the first responder spectrum to share hard-won insights about building resilience in high-stress environments. (Part 1:2)
This Keynote Panel's conversation brings together specialists from crisis response dog teams, fire departments, mountain rescue, police, and the FBI to share their hard-won wisdom about building resilience in high-stress environments. Their insights reveal that while different first responder groups may speak different operational languages, they share common challenges in maintaining mental wellness while performing demanding duties.
https://www.hopeaacr.org HOPE Nationwide Canines.
Phone: 877-467-3597 Teams - Respond at No Charge
Seattle Fire Dept: email Kristin.Cox@seattle.gov
SeattleMountainRescue.org & email: info@seattlemountainrescue.org
Bluegritwellness.com & email: ewtung@gmail.com
That wraps up Part 1 of our special convention edition of Patroller Chats.
We hope you found inspiration in the stories and strategies shared by our incredible panelists — real-world wisdom from those who know what it means to lead and serve under pressure.
As we continue the conversation around wellness, resilience, and innovation in our patrol communities, remember: taking care of others starts with taking care of ourselves and each other.
Stay tuned for Part 2, the last half of the Keynote Session where we continue with the amazing Q&A.
Click to share what you thought about this episode & who or what you might like next.
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Until our next Patroller Chat: Be Safe, Be Seen, Be Aware, and as always - Know Before You Go!….this has been Patroller Chats.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jodie (00:00):
Welcome back to Patroller Chats.
Today's episode will be alittle different.
Think of it as a unique kind ofchairlift ride.
No need to worry about raisingor lowering that bar, but we do
invite you to sit back, relaxand come along for the journey.
We're excited to bring youinside our annual convention for
the Pacific Northwest Divisionof the National Ski Patrol.
(00:21):
For those who may not know, theNSP is made up of 11 divisions
across the country.
Our division, the PacificNorthwest Division, or PNWD as
you may have heard us call it,is one of them.
The PNWD includes five regionsand covers all of Washington,
oregon and parts of Idaho.
This year's convention washosted in Everett, washington,
(00:44):
by our Northwest region and thetheme Patrol Pioneers a
celebration of innovation,resilience and leadership in our
mountain communities.
Now, when you think about it,you might be wondering are we
just stepping back in time?
But no, we're reallyremembering is the richness of
our history.
Since 1938, the National SkiPatrol has held to a powerful
(01:07):
creed.
Who knows it before?
I say it, that's right serviceand safety.
Being a first responder isn'tjust about helping guests or
people we encounter on theslopes.
It's about showing up in oureveryday lives too.
While patrolling, many of ushave likely noticed a growing
awareness over the past 5, 10,15, and maybe beyond in years.
(01:30):
That awareness is centeredaround wellness.
You may have heard it referredto as psychological first aid,
stress first aid or simplywellness.
You may have heard it as PFA,sfa, and here's the key point.
This isn't new and has beenaround for decades.
Some of you might have beenaware of it.
(01:51):
When the military begandeveloping formal wellness and
mental health strategies back inthe 1960s, they laid the
groundwork not just for militarymembers, but for many others in
high-stress roles such as EMS,police, fire, search and rescue
and, yes, even ski patrollers.
There are also not aswell-known but equally vital
(02:14):
members of our broader respondercommunity, such as crisis
response dogs.
Just like any high-stakes job,those roles come with built-in
stress, and when you're in aposition where people count on
you, staying on top of your gameand supporting each other
becomes essential.
That's why, at this year'sconvention, our keynote session
(02:35):
focused on that very themeLessons in motion wellness
insights from our frontlinepartners.
We welcomed a panel ofexperienced responders located
here in the Northwest, from EMS,police, fire and Search and
Rescue, who shared real-worldstrategies for wellness, lessons
learned from their working inhigh-stress environments and how
(02:57):
they have woven resilience intotheir team cultures.
They offered powerful takeawaysfor ski patrollers in
leadership cultures.
They offered powerful takeawaysfor ski patrollers in
leadership, from those juststarting to build wellness
programs to those looking toevolve and strengthen what they
already have.
It was an opportunity to learnabout the challenges these teams
faced and how they adapted andhow they brought their people
(03:19):
together around a sharedcommitment to wellness.
So why am I telling you allthis?
Unfortunately, the recording ofthe session started a bit late,
so you won't get to hear ourpanelists introduce themselves
firsthand or the very first partof that segment.
But without further ado, we'dlike to introduce them to you.
(03:40):
First we had Raquel Lackey andRuffles representing HOPE AACR,
which stands for Animal AssistedCrisis Response.
Raquel and Ruffles are alsomembers of the Seattle Mountain
Rescue Team, bringing a uniquecombination of crisis response
and mountain rescue expertise,along with the calm and
comforting presence that Rufflesand other dog teams have
(04:04):
specifically trained for, andRuffles excellently delivers.
Next was Kristen Cox, who leadsthe Seattle Fire Department
Wellness Program.
Her insights into buildingdepartment-wide wellness
initiatives were invaluable.
We also welcomed Doug McCall,chair and one of the founding
members of the Seattle MountainRescue Wellness Program.
(04:25):
He shared how their teamdeveloped wellness practices
tailored into unique demands ofmountain rescue work.
Joining us from law enforcementwas Commander Eric Tung of the
Kent Police Department.
Now Eric is also the host ofthe Blue Grit podcast, a
wellness-focused series where heshares stories and strategies
(04:48):
from the front lines of publicservice.
Please check them out.
We're honored to have DrShannon Meyer, a clinical
psychologist with the FBI, whois also a member of the Hope
Crisis Response Team.
Her expertise in traumaresilience and canine-assisted
support added a powerfulclinical perspective to the
conversation.
(05:08):
In addition to Ruffles, we werevery fortunate to have three
additional Hope Dog teamscirculating through the audience
during the session, offeringquiet support, demonstrating the
grounding, calming presencethese trained teams bring not
only to critical incidents, butto community events and wellness
efforts as well.
(05:29):
Now that you know a bit aboutour panelists, let's listen in.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue Gri (05:35):
I think that's huge.
I'll just go in with the gooddoctor said is I think it's
recognizing that when we talkabout wellness, when we talk
about culture, when we talkabout leadership, they're all
intertwined and they're kind ofthe same thing.
Right, you want people to bewell so they can do the job they
want to do to the best of theirabilities for the people out
there that need it.
Now, if you don't have buy-inat any of those levels, it
doesn't work.
Right, if you don't have trustand legitimacy at the, at the
(05:58):
ground level, the, the, thefolks out there doing the
day-to-day stuff, then they'regoing to write it off.
And there's fear element,there's distrust, organizational
, like hey, it's on paper, butdon't actually do it.
Or if the leader is saying, hey, do it, but you don't see the
leader doing it or buying intoit, then it's kind of for not.
And so when I hear thatquestion, I think quickly about
(06:19):
distrust and that being theobstacle of fear.
And so how do you build this atyour level, leaders at all
levels?
Just build some positivity andgood attitudes at your level.
Kristin Cox, Seattle Fire (06:30):
And that's where it starts.
I'm going to jump in also.
I agree with everything thatboth of you have said, and
sometimes leadership is busydoing other things or can't
necessarily be enticed intobeing a champion for wellness,
and I'm talking about holisticwellness.
I think most first responderand volunteer agencies that do
(06:52):
rescue work really areinterested in physical fitness,
because you know you can't dothe job unless you're physically
fit.
And sometimes the mental aspectof having your mind in the game
isn't quite factored in, or ifit is, it's kind of discounted a
little bit.
But occasionally leaders needto be convinced that that is
(07:13):
part of the big picture and youcan still do really good work
even if the leaders aren't quiteconvinced yet yet.
And again it's along with whatShannon said is finding somebody
with passion and then can be achampion for a program.
But then it's about buildingrelationships and showing people
, enticing them to participatein volunteer kind of resilience
(07:38):
activities that are fun.
I don't know about you.
I've worked with firstresponders my entire career and
they will not do anything unlessit's fun Okay.
So finding ways to make it funis, to me, the key to getting
people to be on board with it,and then they experience the
benefits and the impact of howthis can up their game, not just
(08:02):
in the work that they do, butthen, bless you, it has a whole
side effect.
That is building community,which I think most of us are
probably encouraging in any way,shape or form we can, but also
with their family members andtheir off work or off
operational scene time.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HO (08:21):
I'm going to jump in on the fun
part of that.
I think that's the niche thatHope has with the dog, because
no matter what you guys arefacing or any of the first
responders that we work with arefacing, it's always okay to
smile at a dog and bring youback to that center as you try
to process what you're workingthrough.
That we can shore you up to getyou back out in your game that
(08:44):
Eric talked about.
I know many of our teams.
It's about walking the talk andmaking sure that we, too, take
breaks when needed so that wecan be completely present to
interact with you all to helpyou deal with what's on scene.
Doug McCall, Seattle Mount (09:04):
Yeah , I think the only thing I would
add there from you know, justfrom the volunteer organization
perspective, it doesn't alwaysit doesn't start quickly, it
doesn't like say like, oh, we'regonna have a resilience program
and suddenly the next dayyou've got it and everyone's,
you know, embracing it.
It it does take that, thatperson, the passionate person,
(09:27):
and then if you can get a coupleother people involved, that
then takes a little bit off thepassionate person and then that
can start to grow within theteam.
The one thing that I think Idon't know if that's been great
about having Ruffles, bungie andformerly Pickles on the team
(09:48):
was it's very subtle, it's notlike in your face, like face
like oh, tell us how you'refeeling.
Or you know, you just wentthrough some really bad shit.
What's, what are you doing now?
It's, it's you just have thedogs there and then and they're
they're not in your facenecessarily, but they're just
(10:08):
there and you can.
You can engage if you want andyou don't if you don't want to.
So just kind of that.
I guess it's like boiling thefrog.
You're just a little bit.
If you throw it in all at onceit's going to jump right out,
but it gets there over time.
Kristin Cox, Seattle Fire (10:23):
I'm going to jump in on that because
I'll give you an example.
At Seattle Fire, when I waswith the Coast Guard Department
of Homeland Security if you canbelieve this did a pilot project
on the impact of mindfulness onoperational readiness.
Can you believe that?
And as part of that, I trainedas a certified as coach through
University of California SanDiego Center for Mindfulness in
(10:46):
a particular kind of mindfulnessthat was built for Olympic
athletes originally, and thepeople in my certification class
were Navy SEALs, secret Serviceagents, olympic athlete coaches
and me.
Yeah, anyway, so that was thepull, was that it was for kind
of badass operational peoplethat needed to be at the top of
(11:09):
their game.
When I came to Seattle Fire, Ioffered one class and a few
people participated and I talkedto the rescue team our kind of,
you know, swat fire and theywere really interested in the
mental performance aspect and sothey asked for a class.
We held it at our joint trainingfacility and while we were all
in class for three days, a wholebunch of other people that were
(11:32):
at the joint training facilitywere like what are you guys
doing here?
Right, because they saw them inyoga clothes and doing a little
bit of meditation and otherpractices, and so they started
telling them.
Well, from that, the directorof training for all of Seattle
Fire said I want all of ourtraining personnel to get that
(11:52):
class.
So we did another class atrequest on that, and from that
people started going back intooperations doing this thing and
everybody's like, well, I wantsome of that.
That's pretty cool, right.
So it does start really slowly.
It's word of mouth and it'sabout showing that there's
specific things that you can bedoing to up your game, not just
at work, but also at home.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HO (12:13):
And I think that you did a really
great job of that and also theinteragency training of that,
having been mental health coachwith Kristen for MPEEC but
inviting police, and then alsowe've got Department of
Transportation and others,because what we're all facing is
(12:35):
the same thing.
I mean, we all have baggage, weall have families, we all have
life.
That's going on and what youguys are all doing is you're
doing that, and then you'revolunteering on top of that,
which is another layer, and sothe more you can take care of
yourself with these littlenuggets that's just as simple as
brushing your teeth everymorning.
That's just value-add icing onthe top right.
Dr Shannon Meyer, FBI Clini (12:59):
I'd like to jump in because this is
one of my soapboxes, so forgiveme, but I think what we're also
talking about is knowing youraudience and being sure that you
speak the language, operationand otherwise, of the people
around you.
We talk about first respondersas kind of a homogenous group
(13:20):
and let me tell you they are not.
The differences between, forexample, law enforcement and
fire are profound and we usesome of the same language with
them, but the same languagedoesn't work across all domains
and so when we think aboutestablishing a program in our
(13:40):
own backyard or with our ownpeople, it's gosh again and we
use, we throw these words aroundlike cultural competency and
what does that mean and whatdoes that mean?
But you need to have someonewho knows what ski patrol is in
and out and what the day is andwhat the mood is like.
Even opinions towards mentalhealth are profoundly different
(14:04):
between fire and police.
Whether they're willing to goaway inpatient is profoundly
different.
So, really understanding andpartnering with someone who
knows you from the ground up and, if they don't, who's willing
to learn with you, who's willingto head up to the mountain or
hang out at whatever that lookslike, but the real importance of
(14:28):
speaking the language, thelanguage of performance, is
something that we all understand, but we may understand it with
different intonations ordifferent emphases, and that's
just something to keep in mindas you plan or grow or enhance
your own programs in your ownareas.
Jodie (14:53):
Just to touch basis a little bit on that.
I'm going to go back just alittle bit when there are
differences.
We also have so much that'ssimilar.
We encourage all ski areas, theresorts, the patrollers to
(15:15):
interact and have acollaboration with EMS, with the
law enforcement, with the firedepartment, with your lift
operators, with the groomers andhaving all that interact
Because we can have a common.
There is differences, but wehave a lot that's common Because
we can have a common.
Dr Shannon Meyer, FBI Cli (15:34):
There is differences but, we have a
lot that's common.
Fundamentally, we are dealingwith all of the same issues,
with all of the same things, andwe come from a culture that is
very similar, but there are justsome flavors that we need to be
aware of to best serve ourfolks.
Jodie (15:49):
But thank you, jodi, for emphasizing that, and that's
where we also we have beensaying from day one, and I ask
on you guys, how has you know?
We ask people to take sometools to get some basic
understanding, but we know thatwhat works at one spot, another
spot, another area, et cetera,is going to go no, this isn't
(16:10):
going to work for us at all andwe have to adjust a little bit.
And that's where we encouragethe basic foundation of learning
some of this and then runningwith it.
And we've got, hopefully.
Oh, I just lost him.
Where'd he go?
Well, there's Joe.
Yeah, casey, casey left theroom.
He left the audience.
I'll tell you.
(16:31):
So we all know Casey Carlson,mount Ashland room.
He left the audience.
I tell you.
So we all know Casey Carlson,mount Ashland.
We got Joe Farrar back here,our outdoor risk manager, and we
have Eric Brittenham fromBachelor Andy's been involved
with us from the beginning andShelly.
So we've been trying to show alot of different examples from
the areas Mount Spokane and eachone has gone a little bit
(16:53):
different, but we also have ourbasic foundation going from that
.
Dr Heinkel is going to be alsowalking around the room.
We want to take a minute to seeif people have some questions
for these guys that we've beentalking about something that's
come to your mind before youforget it.
Just raise your hand.
We'll bring you the mic and wecan ask John, are you raising
(17:18):
your hand?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, H (17:20):
Okay , good morning, good morning.
Jodie (17:28):
It's on.
You just got to put it rightnext to your mouth there, oh
great.
Okay, you just got to put itright next to your mouth there,
oh great.
Speaker 8 (17:36):
Okay, so how does the partnership between HOPE and
those different organizations,how does it actually start?
What does it look like whenthere is an incident?
Do you guys just like show?
up?
What are the logistics of that?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, (17:51):
That's a great question.
So it can happen a bunch ofdifferent ways.
Whatever works for theorganization.
I'm kind of at a disadvantagehere from the other part.
So I am the regional managerfor HOPE in the Pacific
Northwest, but actually I thinkmy core team that I go to for
resiliency is with me here onstage, team that I go to for
(18:18):
resiliency is with me here onstage, and so for Seattle
Mountain Rescue, if I start withthat one, I am on team with
them.
So I have a DEM card, just likeyou all, and I hang out with
team and I don't need to becalled coming in or out If I'm
called by Kent or Seattle Fire,it's just a text message.
Hey, raquel, we've hadsomething come up.
Can you be XYZ?
When do we need you?
(18:39):
Right, and it's not always me.
There's 42 members in PacificNorthwest area.
We have over 300 membersnationwide and if you call a
green shirt, a green shirtbetter have the same training
whether it's in Washington Stateor Washington DC.
They're not going toself-deploy, they're going to be
(19:02):
trained in incident command.
They're going to ask you who dowe report to?
What was the incident?
Tell me, some super secretstuff?
Is there anything that you wantus to be looking out for stuff?
Is there anything that you wantus to be looking out for?
Not that we're going to comeback and report on anything, but
just to have that mindset ofwhat it's going to take to go in
so that I can help staff thatincident to the best of my
(19:25):
ability.
Raquel, there's a phone numberyeah, there's a 1-800 number or
frequently Ruffles.
Ruffles' business card has hercell phone number on it and also
her email.
She does type and I takedictation, although because
she's slow and doesn't havethumbs.
(19:46):
If she were able to drive I'dbe just kicked to the curb.
Jodie (19:53):
So it does sort of sound familiar.
What do we have for our OEC?
Our sled training, it goes,that's National Ski Patrol,
right when it's all across there.
So when they're talking abouttheir regions, it's like our
divisions to sort of be a littlebit, show you the similarities.
And for the Pacific Northwest,that's their region, which
(20:14):
happens to align exactly withour division Washington, Oregon,
Idaho.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HO (20:19):
I'm going to stress with you it's
all about relationships and it'sall about building that level
of trust before the incidenthappens.
Speaker 9 (20:27):
So I have a quick question, so that 800 number
that you mentioned, I'm righthere, so I'm from Oregon, so if
I call that number I get whenyou guys.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, H (20:38):
Yeah , that number, that 1-800 number
, is staffed by a person.
She's actually the president ofHOPE nationally and I
frequently get a call from hersaying I just got off the phone
with Oregon.
This is what the incident is.
We need to staff it with teams.
Can you please make contact?
And then?
So you've got people in thephone with Oregon.
This is what the incident is.
We need to staff it with teams.
Can you please make?
Speaker 9 (20:54):
contact and then.
So you've got people in thePortland Oregon area.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HOP (21:00):
We need more dogs, so I'm going to
implore you to like, go findhelp me find some dog teams that
can actually do this work Alittle.
Jodie (21:08):
PR plug for this.
They are recruiting and lookingfor that, so any of these the
green shirts can tell you moreabout it in conversation.
They're going to be herethrough lunch.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HOP (21:31):
So how does someone find that
number?
Is there, like cards you'rehanding out, or jody's doing a
really good job of pushing outthe 1-800 number for all of
national ski?
Speaker 7 (21:36):
patrol.
I was thinking for anyone whowanted it, but thank you, yeah,
yeah, test.
They have a website too.
Where are you going to havethem so people can pick them up,
I guess?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles (21:45):
There's going to be a table too.
Okay, because they're going tobe interacting and walking
around.
Speaker 8 (21:54):
I'm interested in knowing how you built the
culture with your differentgroups.
Probably not unlike you,patrollers tend to be kind of a
stoic bunch that want to presentthat everything is going great
and they're super strong.
But we all know that what youshow up dealing with in the
morning just is another layer ofwhat you're going to deal with
(22:16):
when you encounter something onthe hill.
So how do I mean?
You mentioned fun things andwhatnot, but how do you create
that culture where people arecomfortable opening up and
sharing and getting the support?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, (22:30):
that's for you in Seattle Mountain
Rescue, not to speak for Doug,but I mean he can add on to this
.
We do it very stealth early.
So Seattle Mountain Rescue hasa lot of young bucks out there
and they know it all right.
(22:51):
They're in their twenties andso one of the best things that I
can do to build their trust isshow up with really yummy, warm
food in the morning to make surethat they are properly fueled
with protein instead of gummybears before heading out.
And then that is conversationfor out on the training field or
(23:16):
out on the mission.
Doug McCall, Seattle Mount (23:18):
Yeah , and it is pretty stealth in
some ways.
And you know, having, as I saidsaying earlier, having the dogs
there, it's very subtle, youknow, for the team to be there
and building that foundation ofyou know communing, having
(23:40):
breakfast together or comingback after a mission, and you
know having pizza together orcoming back after a mission and
you know having pizza justsitting around, whether it's at
the, at the base, at a, at ourbuilding, just the opportunity
to kind of decompress, if that,when the dog, when ruffles and
bungee are there, it's greatbecause while it looks like
(24:00):
they're trying to steal yourpizza, and they might slightly
be ruffles, but he's good atthat, but they're coming around
and they're, they're there, youcan, you pet them and you know
there's there's a lot of that,that general stress that just
goes, goes away, but it'sgetting the pulling that team in
and like, yeah, if you wentstraight to their face and say
(24:23):
this is what we're going to do,it's a little bit.
There is that stoicism of like,well, we're mountain rescue, we
can take care of it.
Or I'm sure on the police sidethere's, you know, strong front
(24:48):
and you can just kind of, youknow, have the dogs to smile at,
because they're always smiling,which is, and Ruffles' butt is
just like swings like crazy, asyou'll see later, but yeah, it's
fun.
Kristin Cox, Seattle Fire (25:04):
I'm going to jump in also that we're
really lucky in WashingtonState the first responder peer
support communities.
If we have somebody who istrained and designated by the
agency as a peer support person,we enjoy privileged
communication just like a lawyer, and so that confidentiality is
really important and that canextend though any time that you
(25:25):
have any kind of supportorganization or program in your
agency or your organization.
It is it.
The foundation is always goingto be confidentiality about
whatever's going on or not, anddo so with complete
confidentiality is reallyimportant.
(25:46):
It builds that trust.
One of the things about that isI tell people that I'm training
as peer support people.
Your confidentiality and yourtrust building starts before you
talk to somebody.
They're watching you talk toother people or watching you
talk about other people andthat's where they're judging
(26:07):
whether or not you're going tobe a confidential resource that
they can go to and be vulnerable.
So it starts again withconnection and building
relationship, but it's beforethe incident and it's not about
an incident or stress.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue (26:22):
It's just about you as a person.
Yeah, I think to answer yourquestion, where do you go?
Do you move?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HOP (26:28):
He didn't like our answers.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue (26:31):
It's not just me, Okay so it's not
literally, not a couple ofthings that we've mentioned
before, the panel's mentionedbefore.
It's relationships and knowingyour audience, right.
And so we think about differentgroups amongst your giant group
.
Like, yeah, we're nothomogenous, so same for cops.
We're frequently a stubbornbunch, we're frequently a stoic
(26:51):
bunch, we're frequently saltybunch.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, (26:54):
Sounds familiar.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue (26:55):
Right .
So I think there are a lot ofsimilarities.
But how we approach somethinglike, hey, let's talk about
stress or talk about burnout,let's talk about compassion,
fatigue, that might be entirelydifferent.
For one crew, like a day shiftsquad, that's like really senior
and like your experience oryour accolades don't mean
anything.
But if you have someone in thecommunity or in that group that
(27:17):
is open and willing to sharebecause you've demonstrated
relationship and trust, and theyare kind of the self-deployed,
decentralized source, that'slike, hey, you should pay
attention to this therapy stuff,because had I paid attention
when I was 20-something I mighthave saved myself a couple of
divorces.
Those are real conversationsthat are really impactful to the
20-something-year-olds.
And then it's just knowing youraudience too, because for some
(27:40):
younger folks at my departmentwhat I say carries some credence
because I recruited them and Ilearned about them, there's a
personal relationship.
However, for others, when Ipromoted from sergeant to
commander, I'm like not a humanbeing anymore.
So it's just knowing that andknowing where your advocates and
allies can be throughout theorganization to kind of help
spread that message.
So the context is right forthat group.
Dr Shannon Meyer, FBI Clini (28:02):
And like physical health, when we
start talking about howmultifaceted physical health is,
a wellness program is alsomultifaceted.
It shouldn't be just somethingyou plug in after a critical
incident, because that's justnot how it works.
That's not how relationshipswork, and so if you've got a
(28:23):
peer support person or a trustedmental health person that can
come and bullshit after a longshift, who can again start
building those relationships andstart modeling that this
wellness and stress managementisn't so woo-woo-y bull.
.
.
, that it has some realrelevance, and I think that's
(28:46):
also a piece of what's important.
Speaker 7 (28:53):
So I think you began to touch on it just now.
But my question was what's theinteraction between the recovery
dogs and the mission dogs?
You know that I assume MountainRescue uses dogs, that on
occasion the police have a doguse, and so you have mission
dogs that have a job, adifferent type of job where it's
(29:15):
not a lot of interaction, andyou have the recovery dogs that
are brought in for a lot ofinteraction.
So the dogs kind of are the tipof this in that shift in
interaction, but also and Ithink Eric started to touch on
it the relationship in thewellness program between the
(29:39):
mission use and the recovery useand how those interplay.
Jodie (29:45):
I think you've got several of you.
You're going to have to answerthat one.
Doug McCall, Seattle Mount (29:48):
Yeah , I think, from my perspective,
the dogs that are on the mission, they're working to locate an
individual.
The ruffles does not go intothe field.
Ruffles is at base andgenerally is there when we get
back from the mission.
(30:09):
So you know, maybe a searchmission where we have the dogs
that are out there, the KingCounty Sardogs, I think they
have air scent and human remains, dogs and they're out, you know
, doing their thing.
We all go out and do our thing,search, but when we all come
back, what I think is great youknow about the program is that
(30:33):
Ruffles and our resilience teamis there for everyone back in
base and on some incidentsthey're there for the family who
may have shown up at base towhose family member is either
missing or has had an incident,and so the ruffles, the
(30:55):
resilience dogs are, will stayin.
Just basically they'll stay inbase and there's a separation
between, you know, the, theworking piece.
And well they're, they're bothworking, they're just working in
different spaces.
They're job classifications.
I would say, just like amountain rescue team is
different from a dog team, youknow you've got a technical
(31:16):
piece aspect of it and thenyou've got, you know, the air
scent piece that we don't have.
Jodie (31:24):
Raquel, did you want to add anything in that You're fine
, if you don't.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HO (31:31):
The Hope Dog teams stand aside and
support when they come out ofthe field or when you're not in
the field and I think Doug did agood job about explaining.
While they're all in the field,you guys are all dealing with
somebody on scene.
I'm usually behind the scenesshoring up the family or
(31:53):
spending time while they'rewaiting for their loved one to
come back or being called Onemission.
I was called to Mount Rainierwith the dogs because they had
to do a body recovery up atMount Rainier.
We all know that dogs are notallowed in the national parks.
However, because that team washaving such an intense and yucky
(32:18):
recovery, the rangers knew theyneeded to break through and
have support for them as theydealt with the family or had to
communicate with the families ofbringing that soul back.
So that's kind of what goes onIf we train our dogs properly.
They don't want to interactwith any other dogs.
You notice the dogs that if yousaw them interact or come in,
(32:41):
ruffles isn't going to Leo.
Ruffles is going towards theperson right and so she's
trained for that smell of thehuman, what we smell like and
who needs our help.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue G (32:55):
One thing that I'll add in is, as
we're having this conversation,is we talked about introducing
socializing and building thattrust before the event.
Right, and so in the times thatI've called a raquel and team
to come to the pd, it's actuallynot been in crisis.
There's kind of these microcrises all the time and then
(33:16):
it's like the death by athousand cuts, and so part of
the strategy was just tointroduce these friendly,
familiar faces so that when wedo have a huge incident and a
debrief and there are people intragedy and trauma and mourning,
these are familiar faces andfamiliar furry paws.
But in actuality it was morethan just familiarizing.
(33:37):
There'd be a lot of people thatgot really excited because the
dogs are here and people lovedogs A lot of people do and then
there's other people thatgenerally don't smile, just
around strangers or in thehallways or at all, and then
they would gravitate towards thedogs or they'd just be kind of
there and they'd kind of lookdown and then they kind of start
petting the dog and then they'dbe down on their hands and
knees and then they'd be talkingto Raquel or you know, one of
(33:59):
the handler, drivers, chauffeursthat we have for like 15, 20
minutes about their day, abouttheir week, about all this other
stuff, which is like anotherversion of maybe hiding the
medicine or just socializing itand then just see where it takes
off.
Welcome back to Patroller Chats.
Today's episode will be alittle different.
Think of it as a unique kind ofchairlift ride.
No need to worry about raisingor lowering that bar, but we do
invite you to sit back, relaxand come along for the journey.
We're excited to bring youinside our annual convention for
the Pacific Northwest Divisionof the National Ski Patrol.
(00:21):
For those who may not know, theNSP is made up of 11 divisions
across the country.
Our division, the PacificNorthwest Division, or PNWD as
you may have heard us call it,is one of them.
The PNWD includes five regionsand covers all of Washington,
oregon and parts of Idaho.
This year's convention washosted in Everett, washington,
(00:44):
by our Northwest region and thetheme Patrol Pioneers a
celebration of innovation,resilience and leadership in our
mountain communities.
Now, when you think about it,you might be wondering are we
just stepping back in time?
But no, we're reallyremembering is the richness of
our history.
Since 1938, the National SkiPatrol has held to a powerful
(01:07):
creed.
Who knows it before?
I say it, that's right serviceand safety.
Being a first responder isn'tjust about helping guests or
people we encounter on theslopes.
It's about showing up in oureveryday lives too.
While patrolling, many of ushave likely noticed a growing
awareness over the past 5, 10,15, and maybe beyond in years.
(01:30):
That awareness is centeredaround wellness.
You may have heard it referredto as psychological first aid,
stress first aid or simplywellness.
You may have heard it as PFA,sfa, and here's the key point.
This isn't new and has beenaround for decades.
Some of you might have beenaware of it.
(01:51):
When the military begandeveloping formal wellness and
mental health strategies back inthe 1960s, they laid the
groundwork not just for militarymembers, but for many others in
high-stress roles such as EMS,police, fire, search and rescue
and, yes, even ski patrollers.
There are also not aswell-known but equally vital
(02:14):
members of our broader respondercommunity, such as crisis
response dogs.
Just like any high-stakes job,those roles come with built-in
stress, and when you're in aposition where people count on
you, staying on top of your gameand supporting each other
becomes essential.
That's why, at this year'sconvention, our keynote session
(02:35):
focused on that very themeLessons in motion wellness
insights from our frontlinepartners.
We welcomed a panel ofexperienced responders located
here in the Northwest, from EMS,police, fire and Search and
Rescue, who shared real-worldstrategies for wellness, lessons
learned from their working inhigh-stress environments and how
(02:57):
they have woven resilience intotheir team cultures.
They offered powerful takeawaysfor ski patrollers in
leadership cultures.
They offered powerful takeawaysfor ski patrollers in
leadership, from those juststarting to build wellness
programs to those looking toevolve and strengthen what they
already have.
It was an opportunity to learnabout the challenges these teams
faced and how they adapted andhow they brought their people
(03:19):
together around a sharedcommitment to wellness.
So why am I telling you allthis?
Unfortunately, the recording ofthe session started a bit late,
so you won't get to hear ourpanelists introduce themselves
firsthand or the very first partof that segment.
But without further ado, we'dlike to introduce them to you.
(03:40):
First we had Raquel Lackey andRuffles representing HOPE AACR,
which stands for Animal AssistedCrisis Response.
Raquel and Ruffles are alsomembers of the Seattle Mountain
Rescue Team, bringing a uniquecombination of crisis response
and mountain rescue expertise,along with the calm and
comforting presence that Rufflesand other dog teams have
(04:04):
specifically trained for, andRuffles excellently delivers.
Next was Kristen Cox, who leadsthe Seattle Fire Department
Wellness Program.
Her insights into buildingdepartment-wide wellness
initiatives were invaluable.
We also welcomed Doug McCall,chair and one of the founding
members of the Seattle MountainRescue Wellness Program.
(04:25):
He shared how their teamdeveloped wellness practices
tailored into unique demands ofmountain rescue work.
Joining us from law enforcementwas Commander Eric Tung of the
Kent Police Department.
Now Eric is also the host ofthe Blue Grit podcast, a
wellness-focused series where heshares stories and strategies
(04:48):
from the front lines of publicservice.
Please check them out.
We're honored to have DrShannon Meyer, a clinical
psychologist with the FBI, whois also a member of the Hope
Crisis Response Team.
Her expertise in traumaresilience and canine-assisted
support added a powerfulclinical perspective to the
conversation.
(05:08):
In addition to Ruffles, we werevery fortunate to have three
additional Hope Dog teamscirculating through the audience
during the session, offeringquiet support, demonstrating the
grounding, calming presencethese trained teams bring not
only to critical incidents, butto community events and wellness
efforts as well.
(05:29):
Now that you know a bit aboutour panelists, let's listen in.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue Gri (05:35):
I think that's huge.
I'll just go in with the gooddoctor said is I think it's
recognizing that when we talkabout wellness, when we talk
about culture, when we talkabout leadership, they're all
intertwined and they're kind ofthe same thing.
Right, you want people to bewell so they can do the job they
want to do to the best of theirabilities for the people out
there that need it.
Now, if you don't have buy-inat any of those levels, it
doesn't work.
Right, if you don't have trustand legitimacy at the, at the
(05:58):
ground level, the, the, thefolks out there doing the
day-to-day stuff, then they'regoing to write it off.
And there's fear element,there's distrust, organizational
, like hey, it's on paper, butdon't actually do it.
Or if the leader is saying, hey, do it, but you don't see the
leader doing it or buying intoit, then it's kind of for not.
And so when I hear thatquestion, I think quickly about
(06:19):
distrust and that being theobstacle of fear.
And so how do you build this atyour level, leaders at all
levels?
Just build some positivity andgood attitudes at your level.
Kristin Cox, Seattle Fire (06:30):
And that's where it starts.
I'm going to jump in also.
I agree with everything thatboth of you have said, and
sometimes leadership is busydoing other things or can't
necessarily be enticed intobeing a champion for wellness,
and I'm talking about holisticwellness.
I think most first responderand volunteer agencies that do
(06:52):
rescue work really areinterested in physical fitness,
because you know you can't dothe job unless you're physically
fit.
And sometimes the mental aspectof having your mind in the game
isn't quite factored in, or ifit is, it's kind of discounted a
little bit.
But occasionally leaders needto be convinced that that is
(07:13):
part of the big picture and youcan still do really good work
even if the leaders aren't quiteconvinced yet yet.
And again it's along with whatShannon said is finding somebody
with passion and then can be achampion for a program.
But then it's about buildingrelationships and showing people
, enticing them to participatein volunteer kind of resilience
(07:38):
activities that are fun.
I don't know about you.
I've worked with firstresponders my entire career and
they will not do anything unlessit's fun Okay.
So finding ways to make it funis, to me, the key to getting
people to be on board with it,and then they experience the
benefits and the impact of howthis can up their game, not just
(08:02):
in the work that they do, butthen, bless you, it has a whole
side effect.
That is building community,which I think most of us are
probably encouraging in any way,shape or form we can, but also
with their family members andtheir off work or off
operational scene time.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HO (08:21):
I'm going to jump in on the fun
part of that.
I think that's the niche thatHope has with the dog, because
no matter what you guys arefacing or any of the first
responders that we work with arefacing, it's always okay to
smile at a dog and bring youback to that center as you try
to process what you're workingthrough.
That we can shore you up to getyou back out in your game that
(08:44):
Eric talked about.
I know many of our teams.
It's about walking the talk andmaking sure that we, too, take
breaks when needed so that wecan be completely present to
interact with you all to helpyou deal with what's on scene.
Doug McCall, Seattle Mount (09:04):
Yeah , I think the only thing I would
add there from you know, justfrom the volunteer organization
perspective, it doesn't alwaysit doesn't start quickly, it
doesn't like say like, oh, we'regonna have a resilience program
and suddenly the next dayyou've got it and everyone's,
you know, embracing it.
It it does take that, thatperson, the passionate person,
(09:27):
and then if you can get a coupleother people involved, that
then takes a little bit off thepassionate person and then that
can start to grow within theteam.
The one thing that I think Idon't know if that's been great
about having Ruffles, bungie andformerly Pickles on the team
(09:48):
was it's very subtle, it's notlike in your face, like face
like oh, tell us how you'refeeling.
Or you know, you just wentthrough some really bad shit.
What's, what are you doing now?
It's, it's you just have thedogs there and then and they're
they're not in your facenecessarily, but they're just
(10:08):
there and you can.
You can engage if you want andyou don't if you don't want to.
So just kind of that.
I guess it's like boiling thefrog.
You're just a little bit.
If you throw it in all at onceit's going to jump right out,
but it gets there over time.
Kristin Cox, Seattle Fire (10:23):
I'm going to jump in on that because
I'll give you an example.
At Seattle Fire, when I waswith the Coast Guard Department
of Homeland Security if you canbelieve this did a pilot project
on the impact of mindfulness onoperational readiness.
Can you believe that?
And as part of that, I trainedas a certified as coach through
University of California SanDiego Center for Mindfulness in
(10:46):
a particular kind of mindfulnessthat was built for Olympic
athletes originally, and thepeople in my certification class
were Navy SEALs, secret Serviceagents, olympic athlete coaches
and me.
Yeah, anyway, so that was thepull, was that it was for kind
of badass operational peoplethat needed to be at the top of
(11:09):
their game.
When I came to Seattle Fire, Ioffered one class and a few
people participated and I talkedto the rescue team our kind of,
you know, swat fire and theywere really interested in the
mental performance aspect and sothey asked for a class.
We held it at our joint trainingfacility and while we were all
in class for three days, a wholebunch of other people that were
(11:32):
at the joint training facilitywere like what are you guys
doing here?
Right, because they saw them inyoga clothes and doing a little
bit of meditation and otherpractices, and so they started
telling them.
Well, from that, the directorof training for all of Seattle
Fire said I want all of ourtraining personnel to get that
(11:52):
class.
So we did another class atrequest on that, and from that
people started going back intooperations doing this thing and
everybody's like, well, I wantsome of that.
That's pretty cool, right.
So it does start really slowly.
It's word of mouth and it'sabout showing that there's
specific things that you can bedoing to up your game, not just
at work, but also at home.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HO (12:13):
And I think that you did a really
great job of that and also theinteragency training of that,
having been mental health coachwith Kristen for MPEEC but
inviting police, and then alsowe've got Department of
Transportation and others,because what we're all facing is
(12:35):
the same thing.
I mean, we all have baggage, weall have families, we all have
life.
That's going on and what youguys are all doing is you're
doing that, and then you'revolunteering on top of that,
which is another layer, and sothe more you can take care of
yourself with these littlenuggets that's just as simple as
brushing your teeth everymorning.
That's just value-add icing onthe top right.
Dr Shannon Meyer, FBI Clini (12:59):
I'd like to jump in because this is
one of my soapboxes, so forgiveme, but I think what we're also
talking about is knowing youraudience and being sure that you
speak the language, operationand otherwise, of the people
around you.
We talk about first respondersas kind of a homogenous group
(13:20):
and let me tell you they are not.
The differences between, forexample, law enforcement and
fire are profound and we usesome of the same language with
them, but the same languagedoesn't work across all domains
and so when we think aboutestablishing a program in our
(13:40):
own backyard or with our ownpeople, it's gosh again and we
use, we throw these words aroundlike cultural competency and
what does that mean and whatdoes that mean?
But you need to have someonewho knows what ski patrol is in
and out and what the day is andwhat the mood is like.
Even opinions towards mentalhealth are profoundly different
(14:04):
between fire and police.
Whether they're willing to goaway inpatient is profoundly
different.
So, really understanding andpartnering with someone who
knows you from the ground up and, if they don't, who's willing
to learn with you, who's willingto head up to the mountain or
hang out at whatever that lookslike, but the real importance of
(14:28):
speaking the language, thelanguage of performance, is
something that we all understand, but we may understand it with
different intonations ordifferent emphases, and that's
just something to keep in mindas you plan or grow or enhance
your own programs in your ownareas.
Jodie (14:53):
Just to touch basis a little bit on that.
I'm going to go back just alittle bit when there are
differences.
We also have so much that'ssimilar.
We encourage all ski areas, theresorts, the patrollers to
(15:15):
interact and have acollaboration with EMS, with the
law enforcement, with the firedepartment, with your lift
operators, with the groomers andhaving all that interact
Because we can have a common.
There is differences, but wehave a lot that's common Because
we can have a common.
Dr Shannon Meyer, FBI Cli (15:34):
There is differences but, we have a
lot that's common.
Fundamentally, we are dealingwith all of the same issues,
with all of the same things, andwe come from a culture that is
very similar, but there are justsome flavors that we need to be
aware of to best serve ourfolks.
Jodie (15:49):
But thank you, jodi, for emphasizing that, and that's
where we also we have beensaying from day one, and I ask
on you guys, how has you know?
We ask people to take sometools to get some basic
understanding, but we know thatwhat works at one spot, another
spot, another area, et cetera,is going to go no, this isn't
(16:10):
going to work for us at all andwe have to adjust a little bit.
And that's where we encouragethe basic foundation of learning
some of this and then runningwith it.
And we've got, hopefully.
Oh, I just lost him.
Where'd he go?
Well, there's Joe.
Yeah, casey, casey left theroom.
He left the audience.
I'll tell you.
(16:31):
So we all know Casey Carlson,mount Ashland room.
He left the audience.
I tell you.
So we all know Casey Carlson,mount Ashland.
We got Joe Farrar back here,our outdoor risk manager, and we
have Eric Brittenham fromBachelor Andy's been involved
with us from the beginning andShelly.
So we've been trying to show alot of different examples from
the areas Mount Spokane and eachone has gone a little bit
(16:53):
different, but we also have ourbasic foundation going from that
.
Dr Heinkel is going to be alsowalking around the room.
We want to take a minute to seeif people have some questions
for these guys that we've beentalking about something that's
come to your mind before youforget it.
Just raise your hand.
We'll bring you the mic and wecan ask John, are you raising
(17:18):
your hand?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, H (17:20):
Okay , good morning, good morning.
Jodie (17:28):
It's on.
You just got to put it rightnext to your mouth there, oh
great.
Okay, you just got to put itright next to your mouth there,
oh great.
Speaker 8 (17:36):
Okay, so how does the partnership between HOPE and
those different organizations,how does it actually start?
What does it look like whenthere is an incident?
Do you guys just like show?
up?
What are the logistics of that?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, (17:51):
That's a great question.
So it can happen a bunch ofdifferent ways.
Whatever works for theorganization.
I'm kind of at a disadvantagehere from the other part.
So I am the regional managerfor HOPE in the Pacific
Northwest, but actually I thinkmy core team that I go to for
resiliency is with me here onstage, team that I go to for
(18:18):
resiliency is with me here onstage, and so for Seattle
Mountain Rescue, if I start withthat one, I am on team with
them.
So I have a DEM card, just likeyou all, and I hang out with
team and I don't need to becalled coming in or out If I'm
called by Kent or Seattle Fire,it's just a text message.
Hey, raquel, we've hadsomething come up.
Can you be XYZ?
When do we need you?
(18:39):
Right, and it's not always me.
There's 42 members in PacificNorthwest area.
We have over 300 membersnationwide and if you call a
green shirt, a green shirtbetter have the same training
whether it's in Washington Stateor Washington DC.
They're not going toself-deploy, they're going to be
(19:02):
trained in incident command.
They're going to ask you who dowe report to?
What was the incident?
Tell me, some super secretstuff?
Is there anything that you wantus to be looking out for stuff?
Is there anything that you wantus to be looking out for?
Not that we're going to comeback and report on anything, but
just to have that mindset ofwhat it's going to take to go in
so that I can help staff thatincident to the best of my
(19:25):
ability.
Raquel, there's a phone numberyeah, there's a 1-800 number or
frequently Ruffles.
Ruffles' business card has hercell phone number on it and also
her email.
She does type and I takedictation, although because
she's slow and doesn't havethumbs.
(19:46):
If she were able to drive I'dbe just kicked to the curb.
Jodie (19:53):
So it does sort of sound familiar.
What do we have for our OEC?
Our sled training, it goes,that's National Ski Patrol,
right when it's all across there.
So when they're talking abouttheir regions, it's like our
divisions to sort of be a littlebit, show you the similarities.
And for the Pacific Northwest,that's their region, which
(20:14):
happens to align exactly withour division Washington, Oregon,
Idaho.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HO (20:19):
I'm going to stress with you it's
all about relationships and it'sall about building that level
of trust before the incidenthappens.
Speaker 9 (20:27):
So I have a quick question, so that 800 number
that you mentioned, I'm righthere, so I'm from Oregon, so if
I call that number I get whenyou guys.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, H (20:38):
Yeah , that number, that 1-800 number
, is staffed by a person.
She's actually the president ofHOPE nationally and I
frequently get a call from hersaying I just got off the phone
with Oregon.
This is what the incident is.
We need to staff it with teams.
Can you please make contact?
And then?
So you've got people in thephone with Oregon.
This is what the incident is.
We need to staff it with teams.
Can you please make?
Speaker 9 (20:54):
contact and then.
So you've got people in thePortland Oregon area.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HOP (21:00):
We need more dogs, so I'm going to
implore you to like, go findhelp me find some dog teams that
can actually do this work Alittle.
Jodie (21:08):
PR plug for this.
They are recruiting and lookingfor that, so any of these the
green shirts can tell you moreabout it in conversation.
They're going to be herethrough lunch.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HOP (21:31):
So how does someone find that
number?
Is there, like cards you'rehanding out, or jody's doing a
really good job of pushing outthe 1-800 number for all of
national ski?
Speaker 7 (21:36):
patrol.
I was thinking for anyone whowanted it, but thank you, yeah,
yeah, test.
They have a website too.
Where are you going to havethem so people can pick them up,
I guess?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles (21:45):
There's going to be a table too.
Okay, because they're going tobe interacting and walking
around.
Speaker 8 (21:54):
I'm interested in knowing how you built the
culture with your differentgroups.
Probably not unlike you,patrollers tend to be kind of a
stoic bunch that want to presentthat everything is going great
and they're super strong.
But we all know that what youshow up dealing with in the
morning just is another layer ofwhat you're going to deal with
(22:16):
when you encounter something onthe hill.
So how do I mean?
You mentioned fun things andwhatnot, but how do you create
that culture where people arecomfortable opening up and
sharing and getting the support?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, (22:30):
that's for you in Seattle Mountain
Rescue, not to speak for Doug,but I mean he can add on to this
.
We do it very stealth early.
So Seattle Mountain Rescue hasa lot of young bucks out there
and they know it all right.
(22:51):
They're in their twenties andso one of the best things that I
can do to build their trust isshow up with really yummy, warm
food in the morning to make surethat they are properly fueled
with protein instead of gummybears before heading out.
And then that is conversationfor out on the training field or
(23:16):
out on the mission.
Doug McCall, Seattle Mount (23:18):
Yeah , and it is pretty stealth in
some ways.
And you know, having, as I saidsaying earlier, having the dogs
there, it's very subtle, youknow, for the team to be there
and building that foundation ofyou know communing, having
(23:40):
breakfast together or comingback after a mission, and you
know having pizza together orcoming back after a mission and
you know having pizza justsitting around, whether it's at
the, at the base, at a, at ourbuilding, just the opportunity
to kind of decompress, if that,when the dog, when ruffles and
bungee are there, it's greatbecause while it looks like
(24:00):
they're trying to steal yourpizza, and they might slightly
be ruffles, but he's good atthat, but they're coming around
and they're, they're there, youcan, you pet them and you know
there's there's a lot of that,that general stress that just
goes, goes away, but it'sgetting the pulling that team in
and like, yeah, if you wentstraight to their face and say
(24:23):
this is what we're going to do,it's a little bit.
There is that stoicism of like,well, we're mountain rescue, we
can take care of it.
Or I'm sure on the police sidethere's, you know, strong front
(24:48):
and you can just kind of, youknow, have the dogs to smile at,
because they're always smiling,which is, and Ruffles' butt is
just like swings like crazy, asyou'll see later, but yeah, it's
fun.
Kristin Cox, Seattle Fire (25:04):
I'm going to jump in also that we're
really lucky in WashingtonState the first responder peer
support communities.
If we have somebody who istrained and designated by the
agency as a peer support person,we enjoy privileged
communication just like a lawyer, and so that confidentiality is
really important and that canextend though any time that you
(25:25):
have any kind of supportorganization or program in your
agency or your organization.
It is it.
The foundation is always goingto be confidentiality about
whatever's going on or not, anddo so with complete
confidentiality is reallyimportant.
(25:46):
It builds that trust.
One of the things about that isI tell people that I'm training
as peer support people.
Your confidentiality and yourtrust building starts before you
talk to somebody.
They're watching you talk toother people or watching you
talk about other people andthat's where they're judging
(26:07):
whether or not you're going tobe a confidential resource that
they can go to and be vulnerable.
So it starts again withconnection and building
relationship, but it's beforethe incident and it's not about
an incident or stress.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue (26:22):
It's just about you as a person.
Yeah, I think to answer yourquestion, where do you go?
Do you move?
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HOP (26:28):
He didn't like our answers.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue (26:31):
It's not just me, Okay so it's not
literally, not a couple ofthings that we've mentioned
before, the panel's mentionedbefore.
It's relationships and knowingyour audience, right.
And so we think about differentgroups amongst your giant group
.
Like, yeah, we're nothomogenous, so same for cops.
We're frequently a stubbornbunch, we're frequently a stoic
(26:51):
bunch, we're frequently saltybunch.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, (26:54):
Sounds familiar.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue (26:55):
Right .
So I think there are a lot ofsimilarities.
But how we approach somethinglike, hey, let's talk about
stress or talk about burnout,let's talk about compassion,
fatigue, that might be entirelydifferent.
For one crew, like a day shiftsquad, that's like really senior
and like your experience oryour accolades don't mean
anything.
But if you have someone in thecommunity or in that group that
(27:17):
is open and willing to sharebecause you've demonstrated
relationship and trust, and theyare kind of the self-deployed,
decentralized source, that'slike, hey, you should pay
attention to this therapy stuff,because had I paid attention
when I was 20-something I mighthave saved myself a couple of
divorces.
Those are real conversationsthat are really impactful to the
20-something-year-olds.
And then it's just knowing youraudience too, because for some
(27:40):
younger folks at my departmentwhat I say carries some credence
because I recruited them and Ilearned about them, there's a
personal relationship.
However, for others, when Ipromoted from sergeant to
commander, I'm like not a humanbeing anymore.
So it's just knowing that andknowing where your advocates and
allies can be throughout theorganization to kind of help
spread that message.
So the context is right forthat group.
Dr Shannon Meyer, FBI Clini (28:02):
And like physical health, when we
start talking about howmultifaceted physical health is,
a wellness program is alsomultifaceted.
It shouldn't be just somethingyou plug in after a critical
incident, because that's justnot how it works.
That's not how relationshipswork, and so if you've got a
(28:23):
peer support person or a trustedmental health person that can
come and bullshit after a longshift, who can again start
building those relationships andstart modeling that this
wellness and stress managementisn't so woo-woo-y bull.
.
.
, that it has some realrelevance, and I think that's
(28:46):
also a piece of what's important.
Speaker 7 (28:53):
So I think you began to touch on it just now.
But my question was what's theinteraction between the recovery
dogs and the mission dogs?
You know that I assume MountainRescue uses dogs, that on
occasion the police have a doguse, and so you have mission
dogs that have a job, adifferent type of job where it's
(29:15):
not a lot of interaction, andyou have the recovery dogs that
are brought in for a lot ofinteraction.
So the dogs kind of are the tipof this in that shift in
interaction, but also and Ithink Eric started to touch on
it the relationship in thewellness program between the
(29:39):
mission use and the recovery useand how those interplay.
Jodie (29:45):
I think you've got several of you.
You're going to have to answerthat one.
Doug McCall, Seattle Mount (29:48):
Yeah , I think, from my perspective,
the dogs that are on the mission, they're working to locate an
individual.
The ruffles does not go intothe field.
Ruffles is at base andgenerally is there when we get
back from the mission.
(30:09):
So you know, maybe a searchmission where we have the dogs
that are out there, the KingCounty Sardogs, I think they
have air scent and human remains, dogs and they're out, you know
, doing their thing.
We all go out and do our thing,search, but when we all come
back, what I think is great youknow about the program is that
(30:33):
Ruffles and our resilience teamis there for everyone back in
base and on some incidentsthey're there for the family who
may have shown up at base towhose family member is either
missing or has had an incident,and so the ruffles, the
(30:55):
resilience dogs are, will stayin.
Just basically they'll stay inbase and there's a separation
between, you know, the, theworking piece.
And well they're, they're bothworking, they're just working in
different spaces.
They're job classifications.
I would say, just like amountain rescue team is
different from a dog team, youknow you've got a technical
(31:16):
piece aspect of it and thenyou've got, you know, the air
scent piece that we don't have.
Jodie (31:24):
Raquel, did you want to add anything in that You're fine
, if you don't.
Raquel Lackey & Ruffles, HO (31:31):
The Hope Dog teams stand aside and
support when they come out ofthe field or when you're not in
the field and I think Doug did agood job about explaining.
While they're all in the field,you guys are all dealing with
somebody on scene.
I'm usually behind the scenesshoring up the family or
(31:53):
spending time while they'rewaiting for their loved one to
come back or being called Onemission.
I was called to Mount Rainierwith the dogs because they had
to do a body recovery up atMount Rainier.
We all know that dogs are notallowed in the national parks.
However, because that team washaving such an intense and yucky
(32:18):
recovery, the rangers knew theyneeded to break through and
have support for them as theydealt with the family or had to
communicate with the families ofbringing that soul back.
So that's kind of what goes onIf we train our dogs properly.
They don't want to interactwith any other dogs.
You notice the dogs that if yousaw them interact or come in,
(32:41):
ruffles isn't going to Leo.
Ruffles is going towards theperson right and so she's
trained for that smell of thehuman, what we smell like and
who needs our help.
Eric Tung, Kent PD & Blue G (32:55):
One thing that I'll add in is, as
we're having this conversation,is we talked about introducing
socializing and building thattrust before the event.
Right, and so in the times thatI've called a raquel and team
to come to the pd, it's actuallynot been in crisis.
There's kind of these microcrises all the time and then
(33:16):
it's like the death by athousand cuts, and so part of
the strategy was just tointroduce these friendly,
familiar faces so that when wedo have a huge incident and a
debrief and there are people intragedy and trauma and mourning,
these are familiar faces andfamiliar furry paws.
But in actuality it was morethan just familiarizing.
(33:37):
There'd be a lot of people thatgot really excited because the
dogs are here and people lovedogs A lot of people do and then
there's other people thatgenerally don't smile, just
around strangers or in thehallways or at all, and then
they would gravitate towards thedogs or they'd just be kind of
there and they'd kind of lookdown and then they kind of start
petting the dog and then they'dbe down on their hands and
knees and then they'd be talkingto Raquel or you know, one of
(33:59):
the handler, drivers, chauffeursthat we have for like 15, 20
minutes about their day, abouttheir week, about all this other
stuff, which is like anotherversion of maybe hiding the
medicine or just socializing itand then just see where it takes
off.
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