CAREER SURVIVAL AND
EMOTIONAL WELLNESS

FOR FIRST RESPONDERS

Career Survival and
Emotional Wellness

Through boots on the ground experiences, 2 The Rescue provides first responders a clear picture of why their profession can lead to destructive habits and unhealthy lifestyles. We will demonstrate how the inability to manage the cumulative stress from daily exposures to adrenaline and trauma can negatively affect the responder’s safety, decision-making and ability to remain ethically solid.

After attending our Career Survival and Emotional Wellness course, your first responders, their loved ones and work family will be armed with tools to manage their everyday stressors. We’ll help them recognize the warning signs for chronic and post-traumatic stress and suicidal behavior. All will leave with realistic, simple and successful methods to help rescue the rescuers! Topics addressed include:

  • Understanding The Lifestyle Change

  • Recognizing the heavy toll

  • Assessing the disturbing facts

  • Acknowledging career realities

  • Managing acute, critical incident and post-traumatic stress

  • Understanding the “Terrible 10” Stressors

  • Assessing the mindsets of the organization, it responders and their loved ones

  • Learning the good, bad and ugly of adrenaline

  • Controlling the adrenaline roller coaster

  • Differentiating core values vs. situational values

  • Staying ethically sound

  • Practicing safe-escorting techniques

  • Addressing environmental concerns

  • Avoiding and warding off dog attacks

  • Recognizing radical group warning signs

  • Learning marijuana grow regulations

  • Detecting illegal drugs and paraphernalia

  • Identifying bombs and incendiary devices

  • Addressing worship safety team security concerns

  • Establishing worship safety team expectations

  • Providing layers of security

  • And more

Loss of Control: Suicide, PTS & High Risk Behavior Education

This frontline experience-based wellness training is designed for first responders, their loved ones, organizational leaders and peer support team members and will address suicide, post traumatic stresses, secondary trauma and accumulative career exposures. Whether you have been in this field 3 weeks or 30 years you will be given life changing tools to be safe, successful and healthy in your career, personal life and into retirement. You will be armed to be a more knowledgeable and effective peer for your partners.

Attendees will learn why the suicide rates are so high within first responders cultures and what must change! You will understand what post traumatic stressors are and be able to recognize high risk lifestyle behaviors so to make personal changes or intervene before it is to late. Topics addressed include:

  • “The Terrible Ten!”

  • Trauma exposure survival keys

  • Personal and departmental accountability

  • Are you a high risk responder?

  • High risk behaviors and destructive warning signs

  • High risk years of service

  • Suicide & PTS signs, symptoms and intervention options

  • How to survive accumulative and post traumatic stress

  • Cumulative and secondary stress responses

  • Mastering the adrenaline rush

  • Support systems

  • The ins, outs and workings of a critical incident

  • The importance of communication

  • Peer support role (formal and informal)

WHO’S TRAINING YOU?

Meet 2 The Rescue Co-owner Terry Bykerk

A retired two-time Police Officer Of The Year nominee with over 25 years in law enforcement experience with patrol, vice, S.W.A.T., field training, investigations, and street undercover operations. Terry applies thousands of hours of experience in the classroom and practical skill instruction to the benefit of emergency responders and others. He has a unique way of imparting lessons learned from his successes and failures. These are presented not just as “war stories,” but as practical advice seminar participants can use every day.

Meet 2 The Rescue Co-owner Mike Wierenga

A 30-plus year veteran in firefighting and law enforcement, Mike has thousands of hours of hands-on and classroom instruction, and is a certified subject matter expert in emergency vehicle operations and de-escalation techniques. This former Police Officer Of The Year combines over 600 hours of critical incident stress management training with front-line applications in multiple line-of-duty deaths, officer-involved shootings, suicides, and other violent tragedies. His passion for the safety and emotional wellness of emergency responders and their loved ones is easily seen by all in his presentations.