2022 Notable Achievements 1 PUBLIC EDUCATION “IT TAKES A VILLAGE”

The Southlake Fire Department constantly creates innovative programs to serve the community. This year, during a conversation with White Chapel Church, the idea of a “touch-a-truck” event became much larger.

Lori, who serves the special needs population at White Chapel Church, wanted to do a touch truck event with the Southlake Fire and Police Departments. As everyone knows, fire and police equipment are subject to emergency calls. When that call happens, the crews must leave a scheduled event.

While thinking about backup plans in the event of an emergency, the “It Takes a Village” event was born. The event was developed to serve families of special needs adults and children and to provide local resources.

Many examples of resources are provided, such as different types of therapies, translation for deaf or hard of hearing, medical services, emergency services, handicapped vehicle conversion services, and emergency preparedness. While the resources were important, we wanted families to have a worryfree fun day out as well.

Activities included station tours, our original toucha-truck, which came to fruition, photo opportunities with Star Wars characters and princesses, a photo booth, therapy animals, bounce houses, and much more. Another community partner, Carroll Independent School District, had a resource table with fun activities, and attendees were happy to see familiar faces in the crowd.

If all our partners are back on board for this year, our tentative plan is to hold our second event in September 2023.

Mental Resiliency

Some statistics provided on first responders and their mental health have been documented by the US Department of Health in a supplement from the Substance Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Help for Heroes Program.4 The statistics reveal the following associated with firefighters, police officers, and EMS professionals:

“It is estimated that 30 percent of first responders develop behavioral health conditions including, but not limited to, depression and [PTSD], as compared with 20% in the general population. In a study about suicidality, firefighters were reported to have higher attempt and ideation rates than the general population. In law enforcement, the estimates suggest between 125 and 300 police officers commit suicide every year.”

This year we created a partnership with F1rst to complete a mental health and wellness resiliency training to assist employees with comping skills and mindset in a high-stress environment. Three personnel attended the first responder stress and trauma 3-day conference to enhance peer support in mental health situations.

Emergency Operations Plan

The Office of Emergency Management worked with internal and external stakeholders to update the City’s “All Hazards” Emergency Operation Plan. The “all hazards” approach allows the ability to respond to a range of emergencies varying in scale, duration, and cause.

An emergency operations plan is a course of action developed to mitigate, prepare, and respond to potential events that could endanger the City’s ability to function. The plan includes measures that provide for the safety of citizens and, if possible, property and facilities. It also contains provisions to assess the severity of an incident and implement steps to eliminate the problem.

The City of Southlake’s Emergency Operation Plan was submitted to the State and received approval for the Basic Plan and the 22 annexes.