LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — By the various tragedies and heartbreaks the Las Vegas valley has endured, first responders have persistently been those to step up, time and time once more. A program was launched to assist these on a regular basis heroes discover the therapeutic they deserve.
“You ask an officer if they have anxiety, depression, any issue like that, they’re gonna tell you ‘No’,” Michael Lemley, an officer with the Las Vegas Metro Police Division, stated. “There was such a stigma about mental health that they wouldn’t say anything because they thought it was a career killer.”
Lemley has labored with Metro for 27 years, serving primarily within the site visitors division. Through the years, he has seen issues many can’t think about.
“You respond to drownings. I’ve seen two kids drown,” Lemley stated. “I’ve seen a man take his last breath after his wife shot him because they were in an argument. You never forget the smell of gunpowder. I responded to a suicide; powder was still in the air. Brain matter sliding down the walls. This is stuff you just never forget. We see all this, and it never goes away; it gets heavy.”
Officers consult with it as ‘resilience’, the capability to endure and bounce again rapidly from difficult occasions. It is what they depend on daily, although even resilience has its limits.
“We go see this stuff and we’re expected to go to the next call, so you just put it all down, and eventually it all comes back,” Lemley stated.
That’s precisely what occurred to Lemley final summer season.
“By the end of July, I was in a total spiral… I actually tried to take my life,” Lemley stated.
That’s when he turned to Metro’s Wellness Bureau, a program that pairs officers with licensed clinicians to create a personalised restoration plan.
“They deal with everything from trauma to PTSD, to family issues, anxiety, suicidal ideations, and depression,” James Kilber, CEO of the Wellness Bureau, stated.
Kilber said that supporting psychological well being has grow to be a high precedence for Metro. The Wellness Bureau, which launched final November, provides free, confidential, and 24/7 assist for present officers, their households, and retirees.
“The fact that this is readily available and free to us does relieve that burden of expense, but what it also does is it makes it where we don’t have to find the help on our own,” Lemley stated.
Lemley retires subsequent week, however his service doesn’t finish there. He plans to pursue a grasp’s diploma in counseling and return to the Wellness Bureau to assist different officers stroll the identical path to therapeutic.
The Wellness Bureau serves round 450 people every month—a transparent reminder that even our heroes want assist of their very own.
