Wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year! 2021 has been a rollercoaster to say the least, but due to all of you who have supported us and our emergency services families, we thank you!
Special thanks to our 85 peer team members and 24 clinicians who have worked diligently to help others all across our state. It is an amazing experience to work with you all.
Also, we thank our counterparts, SC F.A.S.T., Support One, the SC Public Safety Chaplains Association, SC L.E.A.P., the Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy, the Greenville Firefighter Peer Support Team, the Horry County Fire Rescue Peer Support Team, the Charleston Fire Department Peer Support Team and the Myrtle Beach Fire Department Peer Support Team for their dedicated work. Lastly, thanks to the SC Department of Mental Health’s First Responder Support program for their work in bringing much needed clinical assistance to many.
Many of you were here in 2007 when we lost nine Charleston Firefighters in the Sofa Super Store Fire. After the tragedy, a full scale effort was initiated to create a behavioral health care program to take care of our first responders and their families. While we must work to continue our service delivery, I believe we can be proud of all of the aforementioned agencies for their part in creating this state-of-the-art program for generations to come.