WELCOME TO THE FLORIDA CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, INC. (FLCOA)
WELCOME TO SAVE OUR FIRST RESPONDERS
SaveOurFirstResponders.org, a division of The Florida Correctional Officers Association Inc., in partnership with Glad Tidings Church hosted a 2025 Monroe County First Responders Event. This special night was a commemoration of those who have passed and training/education about mental health, cumulative trauma and PTSD in first responders.
save our first responders 5k
Welcome to The Florida Correctional Officers Association Educational Consulting!
Place
Truman Waterfront Park near the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham
Key West, FL US 33040
Description
In Monroe County, Florida, First Responders Week is proclaimed annually, typically in early January, to honor the service of law enforcement officers including correctional officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, FWC officers, and dispatchers. In 2024, the week was proclaimed for January 8-12.
The "Save Our First Responders 5K" run/walk in Key West takes place during First Responders week, on Saturday, January 10th, to support these essential frontline heroes.
Sign up today and run, run/walk or just walk with us to show your support of our first responders and help raise awareness about the critical importance of supporting first responders in distress.
Who:
The Save Our First Responders 5K is open to the public and all ages (Parents please run or walk with your little ones).
The main event of this race is the "Super Eight" which consists of eight teams of Florida first responders competing in Key West, Florida for the 1st place team trophies, gold medals in the first inaugural Save Our First Responders 5K.
The eight teams of Florida first responders that make up the Super Eight competing for the Alioht Valdes-Marrero Perpetual 1st Place Team Trophy, individual first place team trophies and first place team gold medals are: 1) 911 dispatchers, 2) correctional officers, 3) correctional probation officers, 4) crime scene investigators, 5) EMTs & paramedics, 6) firefighters, 7) law enforcement officers, and 8) USA armed forces.
While the primary focus of this event is supporting our first responders, we must also remember to give great thanks and appreciation for our everyday heroes including teachers, security guards, members of the clergy, power linemen, and public works employees so therefore we have created race groups to recognize our everyday heroes as well.
What:
Join us in running, run/walking or just walking three scenic laps of the Truman Waterfront Park (5k) near the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham. We will have refreshments and a raffle after the event and there will be plenty of opportunities for scenic waterfront picture taking, celebrating and first responder camaraderie.
When:
Saturday morning January 10th, 2026 from 7:00 - 11:00 AM
Where:
In Key West, Florida at the Truman Waterfront Park near the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham
Why:
First responders often face significant mental health challenges due to the nature of their work, which exposes them to traumatic events and high levels of stress. These challenges can lead to conditions like PTSD, PTSI, depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicidal ideation. Factors contributing to these issues include exposure to death, grief, and suffering, demanding schedules, and a lack of resources or support.
How:
Please support our first responders by signing up today to participate in the first inaugural Save Our First Responders 5K Run/Walk and help raise awareness to these critically important issues that our first responders who selflessly put their lives on the line for us daily are dealing with. These issues affecting our first responders are a local, statewide, national and even global level one priority concern. Help is available and in this family no one fights alone!
Additional Information:
Pre-registration and race packet pickup will be held on Friday, January 9th from 1700-1900 at Fit2Run “The Runner’s Superstore” located at 211 Duval Street.
You will also be able register and pick up your race packets on Saturday morning the day of the race at the Truman Waterfront from 0600-0730.
The Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride takes place Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 in the Upper and Middle Keys and Saturday, Jan. 10 in Key West. Race participants are encouraged to cheer on and support the warriors and join them after the Save Our First Responders 5K for the community ride on Saturday in Key West.
Bishop Jonathan Carey of Glad Tidings Tabernacle in Key West will open and close the race in prayer for the wellbeing of all first responders.
First 100 entrants receive a free T-Shirt!
Medals Awarded To: gold, silver, and bronze medal winners of Super Eight challenge (top 5 runners in top 3 first responder teams), overall top 2 M & F winners in both the run/walk and walk categories, overall top 2 masters (age 40+) M & F winners in both the run/walk and walk categories, top 3 M & F winners in each 10 year age group in both the run/walk and walk categories, and all participants that complete the 5K receive a finisher medal.
Save Our First Responders exists to support all first responders.
Save Our First Responders is a program of The Florida Correctional Officers Association, Inc.
Membership fees and donations paid to The Florida Correctional Officers Association, Inc. (FLCOA) are now tax deductible because FLCOA has been granted 501(C)(3) status as a public charity. Please consider becoming a member or donating to The Florida Correctional Officers Association, Inc. today.
For more information please visit: https://flcos.org/membership
Thank you and may God bless and protect us all!
Race Contact Info
If you have any questions about this race, please contact the race director at saveourfirstresponders@gmail.com
PEER SUPPORT COURSE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
Bring Peace to the Stress of Responding
First Responder REBOOT is a 12-week, faith-based, peer-led course that helps first responders and their families heal from critical incident stress and trauma.
The practical tools and teaching found in this course are specifically designed for those within the law enforcement, fire, EMS, emergency communications, hospital emergency and corrections communities.
If you or someone you love is suffering from the stress of the front lines, the time is now to break free from trauma and change your life.
Join a First Responder REBOOT course and start your journey of healing.
Why is it that the first to respond to a crisis are often the last to seek help for their own struggles?
For many, the stress doesn't end when you flip off the siren and leave the scene of an incident. The sights, sounds, and smells of the experience can follow you home and chip away at your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
We know the struggles you face. The constant stress. The administrative hassles. Balancing home life with a swing schedule. The anger that sits just at the top of your throat. The numbness and depression that have become your "new normal." Where life used to be fun, now it just seems like just one long shift. Maybe you feel frustrated, discouraged, and broken. Maybe you’ve even thought to yourself, “I can’t take it anymore.”
Trauma changes you, no question. But how it changes you is partially determined by the choices you make after the trauma occurs. We can't promise that First Responder REBOOT will magically make your symptoms disappear. But what we can do is help you take productive steps toward a life of freedom and purpose in spite of what you've been through.
Since 2011, REBOOT has helped countless first responders and their families find breakthrough in their battle against stress and trauma.
Now it’s your turn. It may seem impossible, but in only 12 weeks, you can begin walking down a proven path of healing toward a new kind of life – one of strength and stability. Joining a First Responder REBOOT course is a choice that could change your life forever. Make the choice and begin your healing journey today.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TODAY FOR YOUR FIRST RESPONDER PEER SUPPORT COURSE
The Nothing That Never Happened:
A Collection of Stories for Correctional Officers and Their Families Paperback – December 11, 2020
By William Young Jr. (Author)
The Nothing That Never Happened is a collection of stories detailing the emotion danger and psychological damage that Correctional Officers endure while working behind the walls and the wire of a correctional facility. This book highlights the "nothings" that go unreported.“This book is the reality check that many will not receive, and yet everyone in the correctional environment needs. William lays out the hard cold truths about the invisible working hazards that most of the general public doesn’t have a clue about. The Nothing That Never Happened is the chance to further educate yourself and your loved ones on the difficult reality of working inside the walls.” -Olivia Moser, LIMHP, PLADC; Clinical Program Manager, Nebraska Department of Correctional Services
PEER SUPPORT FUNDAMENTALS: ASK, LISTEN, ENCOURAGE, FOLLOW-UP
WHAT IS PEER SUPPORT?
WHAT IS PEER SUPPORT?
Peer support, as with a trusted friend or neighbor, is someone able and willing to confidentially offer support. Peer support can take place between any two people or members of a group, but because the term is generally associated with the workplace, I will refer to them as coworkers. Peer support team members are a group of specially trained coworkers who offer support and are knowledgeable about resources. They are intentionally not a professional counselor or therapist.
Peer support team members are uniquely qualified because they often understand the stressors of the workplace and demands of the work, and may have had similar experiences on or off the job. Well-trained and skilled peer support teams can elevate a workgroup’s expectation of well-being. Peer support is the wellness workforce multiplier.
Peer support can be early intervention. With forethought, we can often better plan for, respond to, and prevent unnecessary distress, and in some cases, a crisis. Peer support team members are trained to recognize the limits of their role and refer as appropriate to a higher level of support, intervention, or care. While peer support can be utilized to respond to coworkers after a crisis, its primary function is more ordinary as in everyday interactions or encouragement.
A formal peer support team is part of a worker-centric peer support program that is intended to augment existing resources such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and internal or external professional psychological services. Informal peer support likely already exists at your workplace. It is not my role to grant or deny your workplace peer support. The intention of "Peer Support Fundamentals" is to advance your understanding and develop your skills in effective peer support.
COLLECTIVE HEALING AND PROTECTION
Mammals gather and humans talk. Injured or threatened mammals, especially herd animals tend to gather. Humans, which are mammals, additionally benefit from talking about their distress with those they trust. Gathering and talking can be both healing and a communal protective factor. So, I believe it is fair to say, there are both healing and protective benefits to peer support. There is nothing new here. These are ancient practices that can be summarized by what David Grossman has said, “Pain shared is pain divided; joy shared is joy multiplied.”
There is a part of growth and healing, recovery from harm, that is individual and personal, and there is a part that is communal. Experience makes us not better than others, but better for others. As a group, we are not as strong as our weakest link, we are as strong as whoever is paying attention and ready to help.
Please take what I say and compare it to what you know, your observations, your experience, and your study. Make your clarifications, and ask your questions. Sometimes we defer too readily to unwise experts when we are the experts. What I love most about peer support is that it is provided by so-called non-experts or amateurs. People on the factory floor. Simple coworkers.
To build and maintain trust with coworkers, I think it is a good idea to honor their suspicions, even stigma, around mental health issues. It makes sense that a person might be reluctant to talk openly about their distress. At the same time, peer support can provide them with the ease of talking to someone without them writing anything down, without an appointment or record of the meeting.
This is our domain, our important work to do.
INFORMAL PEER SUPPORT
Many workplaces already have informal peer support, meaning coworkers have been watching out for each other, both effectively and ineffectively, for a long time. We do not want to replace a sense of responsibility to watch out for each other but instead add to it. At the same time, people who offer good listening and good counsel (practical advice) must know the limits of their ability, such as when a coworker wants or needs professional psychological help.
Peer support can provide what a person in distress needs the most.
- Someone they recognize and trust.
- Someone they do not have to explain the job to.
- Someone whose core message is, “You are not alone.”
Coworkers may automatically qualify as someone recognized, but their trustworthiness precedes them. As peers, there is theoretically not a hierarchy, unlike a manager or even a therapist.
The message “You are not alone” is powerful. Peer support is being a trusted friend and support to a coworker in mental or emotional distress. It is not about treating people, like a doctor or therapist provides treatment to those suffering with mental health problems or disorders, but it can mean
being with them in their distress.
Peer support is not therapy, but it can be therapeutic. And therapy is not peer support. Peer support is something of its own domain. So, it’s okay that we do this work as non-professionals, as long as we know our limits. We can do peer support because we are peers. And with some training and access to resources, we are a workforce wellness multiplier.
FORMAL PEER SUPPORT TEAM
Formal peer support is provided by selected and trained members of an organized peer support team. They specialize in the daily troubles of distressed coworkers. Most issues can be managed at the lowest level, meeting people where they are, closest to the action. This is not completely dissimilar to when factory line workers are given the authority to improve a product or fix problems that appear before them. Supplied with a set of guiding principles, tools, resources and the authority to use them, groups can fix many of their own problems.
Effective peer support is peer-driven, worker-centric, and provided by non-professionals. Peer support is intentionally outside the formal management structure and needs to be free of the control of therapists, lawyers, managers and administrators. Peers can benefit from the support of management and administrative staff, and the advice, insight, and resources of mental health professionals, but they may have conflicting agendas and cannot function as true peers. In most applications, peer support is a voluntary role. Volunteer means you do it willingly. Peer support is an additive process, where peer support team members seek out opportunities to provide support, and the whole workgroup elevates its expectation of well-being. Distressed coworkers feel encouraged to reach out for help.
We can know that the fundamentals of peer support are not complex and is within reach of all workers. Demonstrating trustworthiness and willingness to help are unquestionably good human qualities that we can seek whether part of an organized peer team or not.
ABOUT THE WORKBOOK
This hands-on peer support and wellness workbook gives you the principles, basic knowledge and essential skills needed to best support coworkers in mental and emotional distress. Each chapter includes powerful and engaging activities that can be used individually or as a group process to explore, reinforce and deepen understanding of the concepts presented in the book. "Peer Support Fundamentals" can be an economical and practical tool for initial or ongoing peer support training that locks in learning while providing relevance to your unique workplace.
Peers are uniquely qualified because they often understand the stressors of the workplace and demands of the work, and may have shared experiences on or off the job. Well-trained and skilled peer support teams can elevate a workgroup’s expectation of well-being and act as a wellness workforce multiplier.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Casey is an author, health educator and active police sergeant. He has a degree in Health Education from the University of Minnesota and over 35 years of experience working as a paramedic, EMS educator and police officer. His skills include developing peer support teams, building and maintaining trust with public safety workers, and promoting mental and emotional well-being. He is also the author of "Ambulance Man: A Memoir" and "Good Cop, Good Cop: A Get Healthy, Stay Healthy Guide for Law Enforcement." For more information, visit PeerSupportSupport.com.
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This hands-on workbook covers the principles, basic knowledge and essential peer support skills needed to best support coworkers in mental and emotional distress.
