The graduating class of volunteers spent 40 hours learning the skills necessary to provide emotional and practical support to area residents immediately following traumatic events. Training included how to work closely with emergency first responders to assist on scene with those left behind after a tragedy has occurred. National trainers were brought in to provide in-depth training on the multiple facets of dealing with traumatized people. In addition to the national trainers, volunteers heard speakers from the Sparks Police Department, Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office, Sparks Fire Department and Crisis Call Center.
Each TIP volunteer brings a unique skill to the table that make them particularly well suited for this program. All volunteers are required to submit to a background check and are subjected to a screening process.
TIP mimics first responders’ protocol in that volunteers are available at the request of emergency responders 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and arrive on scene within 20 minutes of being dispatched.
Trauma Intervention Programs, Inc. is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1985 with 17 affiliates in more than 250 cities across the nation. The program received an Innovations Award in state and local government from Harvard University and the Ford Foundation, a Crime Victim Service Award from the U.S. Department of Justice, a Governor’s Victim Service Award from the state of California and, most recently, a Paul H. Chapman Award from the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice. For more information on TIP, visit www.tipnnv.org.
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