16 HE ALTH • Spring 2019
A
fter Worcester police offi-
cers responded to a grisly
car accident on Vernon
Street in late February, the
police department did
something it had never done before.
It required all responding officers to
sit down and talk about how they were
processing what they had experienced.
In a profession leaning heavily
toward developing a thick skin and not
acknowledging weaknesses of mind or
body, such an initiative marked a sharp
change from the past.
"We let them talk," said John Mahan,
the coordinator for the Worcester
As suicide and mental health threaten more first
responders, Central Mass. agencies are developing
new coping tools
•
By Grant Welker
Traumatic
work
