Disposable Heroes
(Room 3A)
24 Feb 18
1:00 PM
-
2:30 PM
Tracks:
Leadership and Managment
This presentation is a raw and real account of the instructor’s life with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He will share the events that led him to a near suicide attempt and his path to recovery. The instructor will share his strategies, lessons, and experiences in order to teach and empower other firefighters into seeking and getting help with their personal mental health issues. Many agencies are using PTSD PowerPoint presentations or videos that drone on about mental health and PTSD awareness. Nobody is offering a real, tangible presentation that will allow the listener to be immersed in the experience of someone else that has navigated the clouded world that mental disorders give individuals. This presentation is mostly an oral presentation with a few visual slides, statistics, and images to drive home the messages. The name “Disposable Heroes” may put off some people, but the term comes from a line in the presenter’s paper that reads, “We need to accept the fact that we are far from indestructible gods but are not disposable heroes.”