Documentary focuses on trauma, emotional toll faced by first responders
By: Gary Warth, The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — They’ve lost colleagues to suicide, had people die in their arms, seen horrifying injuries and had to tell family members about a loved one’s death.
It takes a toll on law enforcement officers, firefighters and other first-responders, and a San Diego filmmaker is telling their stories in the new 30-minute documentary “Keeping the Peace,” which premiered at the University of San Diego last week before an audience that included police officers, sheriff’s deputies and paramedics.
Sara Gilman, president of the Encinitas counseling service Coherence Associates, Inc., discussed the importance of making mental health care available for first-responders in a keynote address before the screening.
