Bill Searls watched several of his coworkers in law enforcement and other first responders develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over his 17 years of service. When he was diagnosed with PTSD, Mr. Searls began to realize the impact his work had on him and his colleagues. “It’s a result of the culmination of all of […]
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Bill Searls watched several of his coworkers in law enforcement and other first responders develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over his 17 years of service.
When he was diagnosed with PTSD, Mr. Searls began to realize the impact his work had on him and his colleagues.
“It’s a result of the culmination of all of our critical incidents we’ve been involved with that we’ve never dealt with,” he said.
One in three first responders develop PTSD in their lifetimes, according to a 2018 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration study. After seeing the impact it had on his community of first responders, Mr. Searls and Pete Ungaro created the Guardian Training Institute to give emergency responders the skills they need to handle the critical incidents they see daily.
“Our major goal is, whether you’re a police officer or a firefighter or a doctor or a lawyer or whatever you are, we want to provide you the tools to be mentally and physically healthy,” Mr. Ungaro said. “For so long, it’s been taboo to say, ‘hey, I’m struggling,’ or we would just struggle in silence and that needs to stop. We need to be able to change that.”
The duo had been discussing creating something like the institute for eight years before it came to fruition in 2021.
What started as a mental health recognition and peer intervention program for first responders, Mr. Ungaro said, has grown to focus on critical incident management, comprehensive resiliency training and overall wellness programs.
The two founded the organization alongside Dawn Rechkemmer, who served as a paramedic for 20 years before becoming the institute’s mental health and wellness coordinator, and Al Fear.
Personal experiences
Mr. Ungaro and Mr. Searls lean on their own personal experiences with burnout, PTSD and managing the stress of being the first on the scene in their trainings.
“When I left the sheriff's office, I was burned out and I was ready to do something else,” Mr. Ungaro said. “Bill and I, we were in the same boat. We were talking about how we could keep people from going through what we went through. And we quickly realized that all emergency services personnel are in the same boat, so we started tailoring these programs to help deal with the trauma we all face.”
He said the conversations the institute is having is really about neuroplasticity and the brain’s ability to form and reorganize synaptic connections especially after a traumatic experience.
“Instead of focusing on the negatives, we’re training people to focus on the positives and retraining the brain to think differently,” he said. “The brain is very good about going from the shortest (length) from point A to point B. Retraining the brain to be more resilient and not take the shortest path to jump to conclusions will help deescalate things a lot of the time.”
Mr. Searls said critical incidents are extremely common for first responders, especially when they are from smaller departments. An average police officer in a unit of under 35 people, he said, will face 88.5 critical incidents in their careers.
Critical incidents include bad car accidents, suicide calls or any time where someone must provide CPR.
Something as simple as having the Guardian Training Institute’s service dog can change first responders’ days and help them deal with some of the critical incidents they see daily, Mr. Searls said.
“I work in the emergency department at the university, so we took her there,” he said. “Doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, account representatives, everyone who was working there was so excited to see her. People want to see her more at the end of the day to process things.”
A growing business
The Guardian Training Institute began as a dozen classes in eastern Iowa taught by the two lifelong residents of Johnson County. It’s now turned into helping hundreds of residents across the state.
Mr. Searls and Mr. Ungaro have traveled across Iowa to people requesting their services, from companies to police forces to the Department of Corrections.
Now, the institute is beginning to serve the private sector as well.
“The workforce is going to be a lot more productive when we have these conversations,” Mr. Ungaro said. “It’s better than if someone is struggling everyday or who doesn’t want to be at work or whose job is the biggest stressor in their life. So, if we can change that and make people happier, then we can improve the work environment or a whole corporation just by having a conversation and creating a healthy atmosphere.”
Mr. Searls said first responders aren’t the only people experiencing traumatic events or conversations in their workplaces.”
“We started talking to a number of businesses of all kinds and the level of mental health issues and traumatic events that occurred in business is more than most people think about,” he said. “For example, disgruntled customers can come in and yell at workers. There’s a need there even if some people don’t see it.”
Moving forward
Continuing to grow the business and help members of their community is essential to Mr. Searls and Mr. Ungaro as they continue to build their nonprofit.
“At the very least, we’re trying to get awareness out there,” Mr. Searls said. “It’s OK to not be OK and everyone should hear that.”
Overall, challenging trainees to discuss the most difficult events of their careers or personal lives isn’t a struggle for Mr. Ungaro or Mr. Searls and it doesn’t weigh on their mental health either.
Mr. Searls said the conversations he has during training remind him that he can help anyone by changing their mindset while continuing to learn to change his.
Mr. Ungaro said he knows the work he’s doing is important and feels relief when he connects with people over their personal experiences.
“It’s therapeutic,” he said. “Part of this program is getting people to talk about their experiences, which requires us to talk about our experiences. Seeing that light go off, that moment where they’re starting to understand and you start to see that wall come down means that soon enough, everybody’s talking about what they’ve been through. It’s an emotional release they’ve never had. It’s an important moment. It’s the beginning of processing.”
