On this West Virginia Morning, May is mental health awareness month. Randy Yohe speaks with state Emergency Medical Director Jody Ratliff on what’s being done to relieve the mental anguish first responders face on the job.
On this West Virginia Morning, May is mental health awareness month, both nationally and statewide. The job stress and trauma for first responders, especially paramedics and EMTs, too often becomes overwhelming and internalized. Randy Yohe speaks with state Emergency Medical Director Jody Ratliff on what’s being done to relieve the mental anguish these front liners face on the job.
Also, in this show, a graduate student’s project at Shepherd University looks to help reintroduce chestnut trees to the Appalachian region. Shepherd Snyder has the story.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.
Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.
Chuck Anziulewicz hosted this episode.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
Out of gratitude for the work first responders do, we often refer to them as superheroes but that may do more harm than good. That’s because superheroes don’t need help and never need to rest. But real first responders do.
Out of gratitude for the work first responders do, we often refer to them as superheroes but that may do more harm than good. That’s because superheroes don’t need help and never need to rest. But real first responders do.
That’s according to Kari Mika-Lude, director of the West Virginia Behavioral Health Workforce and Health Equity Training Center at Marshall University. She is also the co-founder of Code Grey which is a mental health program for first responders.
“We saw this during COVID,” she said. “Healthcare heroes campaigns were everywhere. And while they were probably intended to show reverence and appreciation in the midst of the chaos that was COVID, it’s important for us to consider the underlying message of such slogans.”
She explained that this messaging unintentionally deprives the first responder of humanness and the need for care. She conducted a study that measured their perception of being what’s called meta dehumanization. It refers to the degree to which one believes they or their group are denied humanity by others.
“The findings of this study did indicate that first responders do experience dehumanization from both their organizations and the public,” Mika-Lude said. “And those experiences significantly threatened the first responder workforce I mentioned: suicidality, burnout and decreased self-efficacy.”
Mika-Lude told the legislative interim meeting of the Joint Committee on Volunteer Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services Sunday that helping first responders know they are allowed to take time and talk to professionals to debrief are important steps.
“This is going to involve a major cultural shift,” she said. “Focusing on destigmatizing language, attitudes, developing more robust EAP services, adopting the provision for PTSD as a worker’s comp issue and or providing financial assistance to workers who wish to seek mental health care.”
Del. D. Rolland Jennings, R-Preston, a former first responder, noted that Cabell County has a critical incident stress management (CISM) team that is proactive and serves other first responder groups when there is a known problem.
“Let’s bring in some support before we start to see any signs and symptoms of a problem,” he said. “That’s really what the CISM model is all about. Let’s debrief this so that hopefully, symptoms of PTSD don’t take hold. Rather than trying to fix it on the back end. Let’s try to prevent it in the first place.”
Jennings asked that the Joint Committee on Volunteer Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services staff further investigate the programs that do exist so they can potentially support and expand those programs.
Seven first responders received the state’s first round of Medal of Valor awards during a ceremony Wednesday afternoon.
Seven first responders received the state’s first round of Medal of Valor awards during a ceremony Wednesday afternoon.
The state legislature created the award, and the board that grants it, in 2021.
“Too often, they’re underpaid. Too often, they’re underappreciated,” Gov. Jim Justice said during the ceremony. “We need to do something about that, don’t we? And we need to show them, not only that we appreciate them, and that they’re deserving of fair wages, but we also need to show them just how much that we will never forget them.”
The Medal of Valor was created to be awarded to firefighters, emergency medical services personnel and law enforcement “who distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty in the performance of their duties,” according to state code.
Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, helped present the award in honor of Woody Williams, who requested the state create it.
“He wanted this honor removed from the political process,” Linville said. “He didn’t want one person to be able to award the state’s highest honor. He wanted it to follow the process that the Medal of Honor follows nationally.”
This year’s recipients include Patrolman Cassie Johnson, Corporal Marshall Bailey, Trooper Eric Workman, Deputy John Westfall, Sergeant Thomas E. Baker III and firefighters John Dean Forbush and James W. Spencer.
Five of the recipients, including Johnson, Bailey, Workman, Baker and Forbush were granted the award posthumously. Their families were in attendance to accept the award on their behalf.
Not one of the first responders on the scene had access to an app that was created by the rail industry precisely for that kind of situation.
Fire departments from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia responded to the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. At first, they didn’t have a lot of information to work with.
Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that none of the first responders on the scene had access to an app that was created by the rail industry precisely for that kind of situation.
The AskRail app was created in 2014 to help first responders amid a series of derailments and fires involving trains carrying crude oil and ethanol.
Ian Jeffries, CEO of the Association of American Railroads, the industry’s principal lobbying group, said the app needs to be in more hands.
“There are a lot of first responders in this country,” he said, “and having 35,000 with the app is absolutely not sufficient, not where we need to be.”
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, a member of the Commerce Committee, said the railroad also needed to improve its communication.
“They were pledging safety and funds to help train, and things of this nature,” she said, “but they still have missed the ball in terms of communications.”
The NTSB is investigating the East Palestine derailment and separately probing Norfolk Southern’s safety culture. Since the Feb. 3 derailment, other crashes have occurred in Michigan, Ohio and Alabama.
Homendy said advance notification of hazardous materials moving through communities is key.
“Because they need to be prepared,” she said. “They need to be adequately trained, they need the right gear, and they need to have emergency response planning done in coordination with the railroads.”
Capito said a bipartisan bill to improve rail safety was likely coming in the next several months.
Meanwhile, East Palestine first responders were among the first to enroll in a hazardous materials training class in Bellevue, Ohio, paid for by Norfolk Southern.
The training class is available to first responders in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The first class began this week.
It was a busy day for the Senate as they passed a dozen bills, ranging from issues of schools to healthcare and substance use.
It was a busy day for the Senate as they passed a dozen bills, ranging from issues of schools to health care and substance use.
First up was Senate Bill 51, which would require an impact statement in certain instances of a school closing or consolidation. School closure and consolidation have been pervasive in the state as the population continues to decline. According to the 2020 Census, West Virginia lost 3.2 percent of its population since 2010.
Senate Bill 258, which would eliminate a $10,000 cap on rent-to-own agreements in the state, was the only bill that did not pass unanimously.
“Currently in the law, it says that there cannot be a rent-to-own contract related to consumer goods which has a cash value, fair market value of more than $10,000. This bill, if it passes, will remove that cap completely,” said Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan. “Consumers and rent to own businesses will be free to enter into whatever contract they like regardless of the amount of value consumer goods which is the subject of the contract.”
Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, both voted against the bill but did not provide comment on the floor.
Senate Bill 282 creates the West Virginia Guardian Program. The program would allow county boards of education to contract with honorably discharged law enforcement officers to provide public safety and/or security on public school grounds and buildings.
With all the federal money coming into the state, Senate Bill 439 aims to help one state department complete its projects more easily.
“This is a pretty uncomplicated, easy bill. All it does is streamline the process for the DEP to bid and award contracts.” said Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker. “With all the federal money coming in, they’re afraid they’re not gonna get all the bids out for mine reclamation and some other projects. The Department of Highways is already doing this and it’s working well for them.”
The Senate also passed:
Senate Bill 248, clarifying when excess funds accumulated by boards are to be transferred to General Revenue Fund
Senate Bill 270, adding exemption to permit requirement for cremation for research for institution arranging the final disposition of a decedent who donated his or her body to science
Senate Bill 271, modifying approval process requirements for First Responders Honor Board
Senate Bill 283, updating the language of the Military Incentive Program, which provides a tax credit to employers in the state for hiring certain members of a class of veterans, to include all veterans
Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, addresses the Senate on Monday Jan. 30, 2023. Credit Will Price/WV Legislative Photography
One Senator, Four Bills
One-third of the bills in front of the Senate on third reading Monday were sponsored by Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood. He said the bill’s aim was to address a chronic issue in the state.
“Three of the four bills that were on third reading today, deal with the homeless/drug crisis that is especially affecting two or three counties, that being Wood County, Cabell County, maybe you can say Kanawha County, maybe one or two others,” Azinger said.
“In Wood County we have four percent of the population and 25 percent of the beds, and we could potentially have double that if Ohio Valley College is purchased by these folks that have these drug rehab places. These bills are trying to constrict. The issues that we have in Wood County with homeless camps, with crime, as you can imagine, break ins and burglary, it’s just off the charts.”
Senate Bill 239 would require the Commissioner of the Bureau for Behavioral Health to engage community stakeholders in a study of homeless demographic information throughout West Virginia, due by July 1, 2024. Azinger said better understanding the state’s unhoused population is important to ensure the best use of the state’s resources.
“The study is basically just to know where the homeless folks are in West Virginia, why they are migrating from one part of the state to the other and how many of these homeless people are from out of state,” he said.
“We’re getting tons of out-of-state people that come to West Virginia, to the drug rehab places, because we have a lot of beds in one county, Cabell, but also, because we have benefits. We give away, you know, all kinds of freebies, and the word gets out on the street, cross-country, ‘Hey go to West Virginia.’ And that’s what’s happening. We want to truncate that, staunch the bleeding, put a stop to it, and make it reasonable. We’re not kicking anybody out of beds, we don’t want to do that, we want people that want help to get help.”
Senate Bill 243 would require the institutions giving people that help with substance use issues to also provide transportation after treatment has ended. The mandate for transportation is broad-reaching, as the bill requires, “a means of transportation back to the individual’s state of birth, a state in which they have previously lived, or a state where they have a family support structure” be provided. Azinger said there is no funding for the requirement by design.
“Just send these folks back to where they have family, to a state that they’re from, or someplace where they have connections and relationships and a history there,” he said. “We’re just making the drug rehab places have some skin in the game. Let them pay the price back for the bus ticket. Parkersburg paid $24,000 in bus tickets last year. So that’s $24,000 that, in my opinion, the City of Parkersburg shouldn’t have to pay.”
He also stated that the requirement serves two purposes: getting those individuals fresh out of substance use treatment back to their support system, and out of West Virginia.
Azinger also sponsored Senate Bill 241, which shifts the responsibility of investigating and enforcing of, the Patient Brokering Act, as well as Senate Bill 251, which requires the display of the official U.S. motto, “In God We Trust” in all state schools.
“Our country was built on God,” Azinger said. “Our America was birthed by the Great Awakening, religious revivals in the early 1700s was the impetus, was a birthright of the American Revolution. That’s always how we have operated. So why did we take it out? What’s happened since we’ve taken it out? Well, a lot of bad things have happened since we’ve taken it out, so let’s start bringing God back into the schools.”
Completed Legislative Action
Two more bills passed through the legislative process and are now on their way to Gov. Jim Justice for his signature.
Senate Bill 143 is titled Relating to Adopt-A-Stream Program. The bill would establish an Adopt-a-Stream program to promote the cleaning of the state’s waterways, similar to the Adopt-a-Highway program.
Senate Bill 231 transfers administration of West Virginia Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Matching Funds Program to Department of Economic Development.
Both bills originated in the Senate but were amended by the House and returned to the Senate for final approval.
A legislative plan is taking action to help counter the statewide shortage of EMTs and paramedics.
A legislative plan is taking action to help counter the statewide shortage of EMTs and paramedics.
Over the past three years, West Virginia has lost more than 1,900 EMTs and paramedics. It’s a workforce that’s short by nearly a third.
Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison County, said the time and cost of first responder training turns many away from the job.
Gov. Jim Justice dedicated $10 million in American Rescue Plan funding to address the problems.
Beginning this fall, Riley said the state will use those funds to provide five mobile certification ambulances to travel the state offering free training and testing
“They will be able to travel to their location, whether it’s Grant County or Jefferson County or Ohio County, and be able to give them that practical hands-on training that they need in order to get certified,” Riley said.
Riley said rural counties often respond to more auto accidents than structure fires, so first responder training will be tailored to a community’s specific needs.
He said some counties are finding recruiting success by using Rescue Plan funds to set up a free first responder training program, offering uniforms, books and supplies while covering certification testing fees.
Riley said West Virginia needs to offer a competitive first responder pay scale to recruit and retain EMTs and paramedics. Counties help fund their programs in different ways, using service fees, levies or insurance billing. o.
He said all 55 West Virginia counties don’t need the same funding devices, but they should all have some sort of income plan to supplement first responder pay.
