When three young men died in an accident in November of 2011, and then a young girl died in an accident the following month, the South Whidbey community rallied in support of their families. That’s one of the reasons I love living here. But there appeared to be little support for the ashen-faced 18-year-old volunteer firefighter who was on the scene of the first accident (and also volunteered at the South Whidbey Commons, where I work). Nor was there much support for the tearful EMT who came to the Commons after having responded to an accident in which the child of his friends was killed.

That’s when I realized that we, as a community, also need to rally around the emergency responders–most of them volunteers–who drop everything to come to our aid when we need it most. And the only reason we haven’t done that yet is because we didn’t realize how much they needed it.

Fortunately, more than 30 counselors, massage therapists, chiropractors, EFT practitioners, naturopaths, reiki practitioners, yoga instructors, and others agreed. They provide free care to the emergency responders who care for us and empower responders to serve their community even better through their care.

Petra Martin is the founder of Whidbey CareNet and
director of Whidbey CareNet provider services