Forces joining together to give Cambridge residents resources to deal with trauma
CAMBRIDGE, Md. – Law enforcement and community partners are joining forces to handle trauma after recent incidents happening in Dorchester County.
On Thursday at 6 p.m., they’ll be hosting an event at the Cambridge Boys and Girls Club, called Community Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. The partnership to make this happen is between the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office, Cambridge Police, and the Affiliated Sante Group- Eastern Shore Crisis Response Services.
When we spoke with the Eastern Shore Crisis Response Team, they tell us due to traumatic incidents happening in Cambridge, including a recent shooting, they were contacted by law enforcement to have this stress debriefing event.
“I think it’s huge on behalf of law enforcement to step up and say we want this in our community,” Brandy James, Crisis Intervention Team Manager for five mid-shore counties, said. “You know we do this for law enforcement all the time when they go to scenes of really horrible crimes; we do these debriefings with police. So, for them to say we want to share this with our community speaks volumes for the level of care they have for their community.”
The event will be free to all who attend and clinicians will be on-site to help. Also, the event will allow people to reflect on the impact trauma exposure has, the best strategies to cope, and what resources are available.
“We really wanna help our children in our communities become resilient because we all know children are resilient; let’s give them skills and with the other partners in our community that’s what we can do,” Tina-Marie Brown, Director of Eastern Shore Crisis Response, said.
“The more there is a gap between law enforcement, behavioral health, and the community you are always going to see trauma, it’s not avoidable,” James said.
Organizers said having this event will also educate parents on what signs to look out for when it comes to their children who may be dealing with this trauma.
We are told the school board in Dorchester County is also a supporter of this event.
