FAIRWAY, Kan. — Shock turned to grief Monday night with the death of 29-year-old Fairway police officer Jonah Oswald.
One group worked behind the scenes to help comfort those devastated by the horrible news of the officer's death.
"We respond immediately. No questions asked. We don't even ask if we're needed. We just respond," said Pat Hinkle, a psychotherapist working with FRST Midwest.
Whether it's a police officer, dispatcher, a paramedic, First Responders are constantly on the front lines of trauma.
"I was present in a shooting with quite a few rounds fired and one impacted near me," Hinkle said. "I was going through a door and several impacted in the doorway I was coming through. I've been on that side."
Hinkle, an Army veteran and former police officer, now is on a different side.
"We want to be able to be there as quick as we can and let first responders talk about what they're going through," Hinkle said. "Because here's the other thing. If a call goes out in that moment, they have to answer it. The people who were just on the scene and witnessed that have to turn around and maybe go on another call."
His job requires him to show up at hospitals and scenes like yesterday's shooting that killed the officer, remembering what it's like to have a close call.
"They're all routine until they're not," Hinkle said. "That was from a 15-year experienced homicide investigator."
And after 500 hours of peer support and 20 line-of-duty deaths later, they know many first responders you meet might not talk about it.
Trauma for first responders and even their families could last long after the initial call.
"I've never known a department to do more than 6 sessions – what happens after that?" Hinkle said.
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