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NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team Gets 400 First Responders to Focus on Themselves and Wellness Amid Trauma and Suicides

Travis Howze, a burly Marine, firefighter, police officer and comedian, stood before about 400 first responders on Saturday morning and confronted them all with the fact that suicide kills more first responders than line-of-duty deaths. 
Travis Howze, a Marine, police officer, firefighter and comedian, did not mince words for those who think the trauma of responding to critical incidents doesn’t follow first responders home. Howze was the keynote speaker at an event focused on wellness, resiliency, and finding purpose through adversity. The event was the first organized by the NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team. It drew about 400 first responders from police, fire, EMS, and dispatching agencies across the region, with military members also welcomed. (Photo Courtesy NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team)

WOBURN — Travis Howze, a burly Marine, firefighter, police officer and comedian, stood before about 400 first responders on Saturday morning and confronted them all with the fact that suicide kills more first responders than line-of-duty deaths. 

“We are the biggest threat to ourselves, not the big, bad boogeyman out there,” Howze said. “All of us signed up because we wanted to help, but we were young and naive, and we didn’t realize the cost of that.”

Only moments later, Howze had the audience laughing along as he used humor to lighten to the load of a discussion of trauma, mental health, suicide, wellness, and how to build resiliency. 

Howze, a well-known advocate for eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health, was the keynote speaker at the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) seminar on wellness and resiliency.

The event was held at the Crowne Plaza in Woburn, where about 20 vendors providing behavioral health services set up booths. It drew about 400 first responders from police, fire, EMS, and dispatching agencies across the region. Military members were welcomed as well.

The seminar was the first organized by the NEMLEC CISM Team, which responds to agencies across the region, at their request, to provide support to first responders following major, traumatic emergencies.

The morning began with a message that anyone in attendance could walk into the hallway and receive support from a CISM member at any time if emotions became too intense.

Howze detailed his background, serving in the infantry as a Marine, working as a police officer in a city known for violence, and losing nine colleagues while working as a firefighter. He also told of how trauma once destroyed his life and family.

Howze raised his voice at times while questioning any first responder who believes that the trauma of work doesn’t go home with them, and openly asked how many in attendance had attempted suicide.

More than a dozen people in the audience raised their hands.

The emotionally raw, and yet at times comedic, discussion touched on ways to build resiliency, to find purpose through adversity, and encouraged attendees to reach out for support when it’s needed. 

Howze cited his training as both a cop and firefighter to remind those in attendance that calling for backup, or calling a mayday, are part of their earliest training. 

“We learn from day one to call for help when we need it,” he said, adding that when it comes to dealing with trauma, not enough first responders do.

The event included informational booths from McLean Hospital, Bibles for Law Enforcement Officers, Valor, On-Site Academy, Hope Beyond the Badge, First Responder File, Concerns of Police Survivors, Advocates, Clearbrook Treatment Center, Brotherhood for the Fallen, First Responders Credit Union, Riverside Trauma Center, the NAN Project, Essex Regional Retirement System, Boston Area Trauma Response Network, Rebuilding First Responders and Forge VFR. 

About the NEMLEC CISM Team:

The NEMLEC CISM Team, established in 2017, is comprised of police officers of all ranks, dispatchers, correctional officers, mental health clinicians and chaplains who follow a peer-driven approach to lessening the effects of stress among first responders following response to critical incidents. All members of the NEMLEC CISM Team are trained in the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation’s (ICISF) Assisting Individuals in Crisis and Group Crisis Intervention model. 

To learn more about the NEMLEC CISM Team, visit: nemlec.org/cism/. 

The audience included about 400 chiefs, officers, firefighters, EMTs, dispatchers, and military members. (Photo Courtesy NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team)
Marine, police officer, firefighter and comedian Travis Howze used humor to lighten the load of an emotionally raw discussion. (Photo Courtesy NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team)
The leaders of the NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team, Beverly Police Lt. Edward Hathon, Peabody Police Chief Thomas Griffin, and Danvers Police Capt. Ashley Sanborn welcome attendees. (Photo Courtesy NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team)
About 400 first responders from police, fire, EMS, and dispatching agencies across the region attended. Military members were welcomed as well. (Photo Courtesy NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team)
A frank discussion of first responder deaths and suicides saw over a dozen audience members raise their hands when asked if they’d attempted suicide before.  (Photo Courtesy NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team)
Marine, firefighter, police officer and comedian Travis Howze stands with the NEMLEC CISM Team. (Photo Courtesy NEMLEC Critical Incident Stress Management Team)

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