By EMS1 Staff
MILWAUKEE — A fire department has joined a countywide initiative to provide treatment to children and families that have been through a traumatic experience.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Milwaukee Fire Department joined the Milwaukee City-County Trauma Response Initiative in an effort to train firefighters and EMS providers to provide services to families after traumatic events.
Twenty fire leaders will be trained with mental health professionals on how to respond to children with traumatic injuries, and will later give the same training to the 600 firefighters and EMS providers in the department.
“The goal here is to have our EMTs and firefighters work with our county mental health system so these kids can get the wraparound services they need,” Mayor Tom Barrett said. “The fire department was a natural place to expand this because our EMTs and firefighters are on the scene right away.”
The first responders will learn how to refer families to the County Mobile Crisis Team if children witness incidents such as shootings, vehicle crashes, domestic violence and more.
“It’s an important intervention for families and children who have experienced trauma,” Office of Violence Prevention director Reggie Moore said. “The link is obviously to try and reduce incidents of trauma in our community, but while we do that we also have to make sure we are being responsive when trauma happens.”
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