By Nancy Dowdy
Well here we are again in the middle of the night. Waking up full of guilt – you know, that moment after the alcohol wore off and you realize what a total disgrace you were. Every single time we feel bad. Every single time we say we won’t do it again… and then every single time we do. We take that first drink and it’s like or best friend found us again. We are funny. We are young. We are who we were before. Wait. There it is. Who was I – BEFORE?
By Tom McConaghy
May of 2013 did not end the way I had planned. During the commission of a felony, I left several empty pill bottles on the front seat of my patrol car that I shared with another officer. How did I get here? Why had I become an addict when my entire being was dedicated to protecting my community?
There was never one single moment or event that lead me down this path. An endless string of incidents had pounded away at my psyche for well over a decade. One after another with no time to recover. The police officer life I chose was hard. I accepted tough assignments. Took on additional responsibilities and let the job be my entire life. At one point I was a drug investigator, meth lab technician, SWAT sniper, Drug Court liaison, and volunteered at the local child advocacy center at the same time. 24/7 on call and the rapid-fire calls and tragedies took their toll.
By Sean Riley – President & Founder Safe Call Now
A dear friend of mine always says and he’s right, “We treat our cars better than we treat our first responders in addiction who are going to die”. When the red lights coms on in our vehicles we immediately take the vehicle into the mechanic and have it assessed, evaluated and fixed. When we’re dealing with the alcoholic or addicted first responder, the red lights come on and as a profession we will become enablers to protect our partners (blind loyalty), try to fix the problems ourselves (which only a professional can do) or cast them aside and throw them away as if it is someone else’s problem (the easy way out).
The diseases of addiction and mental health when combined are two of the deadliest diseases known to mankind, yet they are the only two diseases that we allow the first responder who’s brain is incapable of making logical decisions to dictate the terms of treatment. Maybe for fear of not offending them, ending their career, who knows there are many other reasons usually associated with “The Thin Blue, Red, Green Lines”. Ultimately I have determined that the main cause is that “It’s always been done this way in the past”.
