Month: August 2016

Being Married to a Cop is No Walk in the Park

No one is guaranteed tomorrow. Actually none of us are even guaranteed the next minute. We take precautions, try to make healthy choices, and make plans on returning home to our loved ones. Car wrecks, acts of crime, and medical emergencies often turn a simple ring of someone’s phone into a life-altering moment. No one expects to hear the words from a stranger that their loved one is gone. But it happens.  And some people are in positions that place them in situations that increase the chance of a loved one getting that call. One of those positions is that ... Read more

Firefighters: Injured On the Job and Now I’m a Drug Addict

When an emergency call comes in, firefighters have no way of knowing the exact kind of danger they will be facing. At the scene, they have to make quick judgements using their training and intuition about how best to mitigate the emergency. Despite extensive training to help others while keeping firefighters safe, firefighters have a high rate of job-related injuries. While medication can help to manage discomfort, it often leads to painkiller addiction. Frequency of Job-Related Injuries A 2011 survey by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) showed that approximately 70,900 firefighter injuries occur in the line of duty. About ... Read more

The Reality of Post-Traumatic Stress and PTSD in Law Enforcement

There is nothing new under the sun. People are just as cruel now to their fellow human beings as they were thousands of years ago. Yet it seems to be the only thing anyone hears about. The news has become a showcase of “most shocking crime” and “unbelievable horrors”. Headlines scream out the obscenities that mankind commit. Uplifting news is often doubted and viewed with a high degree of suspicion. If the average person makes it a habit to ignore the news because of all the terrible stories of crime and pain, then what does the person do who is ... Read more

Frontline’s Own Mark Lamplugh Featured In Firehouse Magazine

Mitigating Stress in a Chaotic Career BY MARK LAMPLUGH JR. ON AUG 1, 2016 All firefighters can identify a reason that sparked their initial passion for becoming a firefighter—to serve their community, to save people, to work as part of a team, to become part of the station house brotherhood or something else. That reason turns into a passion that supersedes any fear of danger or job-related stress. READ FULL: http://www.firehouse.com/article/12221659/health-wellness-mitigating-stress-in-a-high-stress-career