NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) – The city of North Myrtle Beach has is offering counseling for first responders after several people in the Public Safety Department have died.
Sergeant Heather Swarthout died this weekend after being admitted into a hospital last Wednesday, she had a blood clot near her brain.
Just two weeks earlier, North Myrtle Beach firefighter Jennifer Hanna was killed in a motorcycle accident.
Police and firefighters are called into traumatic situations on a regular basis; and health care professionals say it’s important to have help available, especially in times of great stress.
Councilors News13 spoke to say that anyone can be traumatized, if the trauma is severe enough, and first responders simply see more of it.
“Mental disorders you’re not going to see right up front,” said Montgomery Prescod, a twenty year veteran of the United States Army.
He was deployed twice in combat zones and he’s lost good friends to enemy fire, “shot between the eyes, that’s traumatic, this is someone i just shared breakfast with,” recounted Prescod.
It was during that deployment, when he made himself a promise, “when or if I return home, I’m going to get myself credentialed in order to help veterans or others that have been traumatized in some way,” he said.
That was in 2009, six years later, Prescod is months away from finishing his doctorate; and interning with Roberta Bogle from the Center for Counseling and Wellness.
“All of those past experiences can work for something good, if we’ve had those experiences when we’re sitting in front of our clients,” said Bogel.
For Prescod, it’s personal, “not just relate, I can connect.”
First responders and military members are more susceptible to PTSD because of the situations they encounter, “people dying, injury, life-threatening injuries. This is life and death stuff,” said Bogle.
She says PTSD is a mental illness that needs to be treated like any other illness, “basically go to the doctor like if you had a stomach ache, get the person to a counselor.”
Bogle says the closer in time to the trauma, the better the chance of a positive outcome, “what we do here is talk therapy and that is the way out.”
Prescod says that family and friends shouldn’t wait until symptoms arrive before reaching out, “engage these folks whether they are military, or police you know your individual best; you can tell when something’s not right”
Bogle added “there is good treatment for PTSD. You don’t have to live in those symptoms and some unfortunately die in those symptoms before they go get help.”
The three main symptoms that signal the need for professional help following a traumatic incident are avoidance, intrusion and cognition.
Avoidence can be shown through sleep disturbances, trouble concentrating, reckless or self-destructive behaviors.
Intrusion includes flashbacks, dreams and nightmares, and distress exposure.
Cognition relates to mood including alienation, negative emotions, blaming self and others, as well as losing interest for things they once enjoyed.
Both Prescod and Bogel say that connecting with other people who share similar experiences is very helpful for veterans and first responders alike.
