Emergency Responders in Washington County will now have a resource to reach out to should on the job stress become overwhelming. Washington County Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Daniel Harvey is announcing the creation of the Responders First Initiative. It is a Critical Incident Stress Management team. Emergency responders respond to incidents regularly that involve critical injury and death. Often times, responders have no one to talk to about what they just witnessed. The program will help emergency responders work through mental and emotional stresses, both immediate and those built up over time, by offering them counseling with trained first responder peers and mental health professionals. The program was established through a $179,000 grant from the Staunton Farm Foundation and a partnership with Healing Bridges, who Harvey says, recognized the need for such services for emergency responders. Harvey says that the program is active right now, but if any emergency responder peers are interested in helping their fellow responders, training is available. Contact Daniel Harvey at the Department of Public Safety or Natalie Ross at Healing Bridges.