Episode | #026

First Responders to Trauma Need Coping Mechanisms Too

When watching the nightly news coverage of various shootings and violence in the city, it’s easy to separate yourself from the drama on the TV screen. For Lieutenant Jamaal Perry of the Milwaukee Fire Department, there is no separation because he’s the paramedic on the scene for the worst of the city’s violence.

Emergency response departments that are in need of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) support should contact the Sinai Samaritan Medical Center (414) 219-2000.

Personnel should identify the department that they are calling from, state that they are requesting CISM services, and would like to speak with someone from TIR (Traumatic Incident Resource).

Milwaukee Fire Department Lieutenant Jamaal Perry is the first responder on some of the city’s most traumatic scenes of violence. (Photo by Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Additional Precious Lives content can be found on our media partner pages: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WUWM, WisconsinWatch.

Related Episodes

Planting A Legacy for Za’layia

Episode #079

“Each year we want [the garden] just to grow, and grow and grow.... Her little body can’t grow anymore so this is her body, and I want people to realize that. This is her...

My son doesn’t have that street knowledge

Episode #056

“I understand that in this society, in this society, you got to know your child. He’s a follower, you know? I got to not let him be led by the wrong people. Because when...

A teenage girl’s gun violence survival guide

Episode #054

“My house right here! They down the street, like three houses down, hiding they gun. Somebody down there dead. I know who it is. What if they wasn’t done? What if they...

Giovonnie Cameron

Episode #051

“My son never was allowed to play with guns. He never got it for Christmas, anyone bought him a gun I gave it back. But if I would've allowed him to, then he would've know...

OUR COMPOSER'S YEAR END SONIC EXPERIENCE REVIEW

Episode #050

"I survived Milwaukee." Remixing the sounds and voices of our first year of Precious Lives episodes, our composer Kiran Vee has created an immersive sonic experience. Travel...

Before He Pulled the Trigger

Episode #049

“He had told his mom the day of this incident that he didn’t want to live any more. Nobody knows that he had just a big blow up with his mom that he didn’t want to live...

Kids who fight in school need the most care

Episode #047

“Well, I mean that's so much a part of us, where we live, who we're around our environment. When you don't have that support system. It’s so important. When you don't...

The cost of a single bullet

Episode #046

“Who is bearing the cost of these actions, when these kids do actually make decisions. And you know it comes down to the person, the victim. You know you get victimized...

Hiring for Youth Violence Prevention

Episode #042

“But I just want to say this, this current budget proposal with this two positions for the youth violence… I don’t want anyone listening to be mistaken that this in...

Planting Seeds to Create Resilient Girls

Episode #039

“I know the whole neighborhood heard what happened in my house that night because it spills over and the screams and fighting and the arguing.  And so why... then you see...

The Price of Doing the Right Thing

Episode #037

“I feel that I did do the right thing, I did the only thing. I had a choice to make and I made the right decision, just like my son had a choice to make. He made the right...

Not a Violent Kid, a Surviving Kid

Episode #034

At 15 Tyrone Williams was the youngest person in Wisconsin waived into adult court for a robbery case. He rapped at his sentencing in 1997. He wrote lyrics about his life -...

Landscaping to Renew Hope

Episode #032

After the loss of a loved one, we often see friends and family cope with makeshift memorials. Teddy bears, t-shirts, candles and bottles are gathered to help commemorate a...

Few Places Left Where Milwaukee Teens Feel Safe

Episode #027

As Milwaukee mourns ten individuals lost to gun violence in seven days, family members Shateria and Dearia Wiley, Nasiera Cloyd and Timasia Mack describe the scene on Lake...

Trauma Training Makes Way for Learning

Episode #024

When we lose someone in Milwaukee to gun violence, there’s a radiating impact. Take 5 year old Laylah Petersen. She was killed inside her home. The result of a drive-by...

The Shooting at the Vigil

Episode #023

Vigils are meant to offer solidarity and comfort to grieving people, a pause from the chaos of murder. But in May as a group gathered for 18 year old Kendrai Walker’s...

The Trauma of Shooting a Teen in Self-Defense

Episode #020

Concealed carry holder and nurse, Victoria Davison-Adams shot a 15 year old in self-defense. She’s learning how to cope with the trauma. Victoria Davison-Adams, a...

Homicide Prompts Neighborhood Peace, Not War

Episode #019

21 year old Raymond Harris, also known as Lil’ Ray, was fatally shot near an orchard managed by Walnut Way Conservation Corp. – a neighborhood group in Milwaukee’s...

Building a Violence-Free Zone

Episode #015

Keyon Mitchell is a Youth Advisor in the Violence Free Zone Program, or VFZ. It’s a nationwide program designed to reduce suspensions, and improve attendance and test...

Provide Love Now to Avoid Lock-Up Later

Episode #013

The first half of 2015 has been an exciting time for leaders at Milwaukee’s Sojourner Family Peace Center.  The organization announced recently that it has exceeded its...

The Thao Family’s Immigration Story

Episode #010

Somboon Thao and his family escaped a repressive life in Laos to start better one in the United States. But then the worst thing imaginable happened. Somboon Thao’s...

Getting a House Back to a Home

Episode #009

Latoshia Stewart tries to feel whole again after the murder of her daughter. In December 2010, 18 year old Markus Evans took 17 year old Jonoshia Alexander’s life on her...

Like Father, Like Son

Episode #008

Each time Rev. Fuller helps to restore a family, he feels that just maybe his own sons did not die in vain. Over a 9 year period Reverend Fuller lost all three of his sons...

Breaking Ground to Break the Cycle of Violence

Episode #007

Will a new center for domestic violence victims reduce the likelihood that a kid or teen will pick up a gun? This past October, Milwaukee broke ground on what will be the...

Virtually Mourning Darius Simmons

Episode #006

16-year-old Pierre Johnson has lost 3 close friends to gun violence in the past 2 years. Facebook helps him cope. In May of 2012, 13-year-old Darius Simmons was shot...

Pick-Up Game

Episode #005

Anthony Barksdale returns to Marcus DeBack for the first time in 20 years. The last time he was at the park, he witnessed the shooting of his best friend. Milwaukee was...

But I Couldn’t Fix Him…

Episode #004

As a pediatric nurse Lisa heals people all of the time, but twenty years ago she couldn’t heal the one she wanted to the most… her son. Nine year old Marcus DeBack was...

More Than a Teacher

Episode #003

An art teacher changes her lesson plan to personalized guns after many of her students mourn the death of 17 year old Precise Martin. Trace Matabele was teaching art in...

History Repeating Itself

Episode #002

The recent shooting of 5 year old Laylah Petersen snapped Betzy Torres back to the day she was shot 22 years ago in 1993. Betzy was five when she was shot in her home on...

Milwaukee Fire Department Lieutenant Jamaal Perry is the first responder on some of the city’s most traumatic scenes of violence. Photo by Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.