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When to Call Out a Chaplain
Boundary County Chaplain Corps ♦ “A ministry of presence in Boundary County”
Boundary County Chaplain Corps’ chaplains have many years of widely varied experience that goes far beyond the local church; retired law enforcement, retired and current firefighters, educators, cross-cultural experience, and continued training in as many areas of emergency services skills as possible help us do what we are called to do. In addition, our on-call chaplains are all trained in a nationally recognized chaplaincy training program.
Law Enforcement, Fire Service, and EMS Incident Commanders can call out a Chaplain whenever they encounter a situation where he or she feels emotional, physical, or spiritual support would be helpful to either agency personnel or victims. This support can take place on scene or after a scene has been cleared. The Chaplain Corps is also available to schools and medical providers in times of emergency and is able to work sensitively within the unique structure and requirements of those institutions.
Clearly, there are many scenes where a chaplain is not necessary. But there are also many scenes where a chaplain could be a great help to responders by making it easier for them to do their job unhindered:
Death Notifications – Chaplains are trained and ready to assist whenever that unfortunate duty falls upon the Boundary County Sheriff’s Department or the Bonners Ferry Police Department.
Fire & Vehicle Accident Incidents – helping victims/responders connect with resources and providing comfort.
Counseling – our chaplains are trained in family, grief, and suicide counseling. Though we are intentionally Christian in our worldview and ethical standards, our efforts are not to proselyte counselees to one church or another, but to help a person get on solid ground so that good decisions can be made going forward once the crisis has subsided. We do not charge a fee for any service that we provide.
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) – BCCC chaplains are trained in conducting CISM debriefings and defusings upon agency request.
Large scale disasters – Chaplains work as a team, helping with reunification of families, communications, wellness checks, and bringing a calming influence to the situation.
Angel 1 Support – The Chaplain Corps operates an incident support vehicle dubbed “Angel 1” which is capable of providing shelter, food, rest, light rehab, and communications on extended emergency scenes for the duration of the incident.
The time to call for a chaplain is as soon as the IC suspects that they might be useful on the scene in any capacity. If chaplain services turn out to not be required, that’s fine. We’ll be happy to turn around and head home again. The protocol is simple. All the IC has to do is ask Dispatch to call us. Dispatch does the rest, and the chaplain on-call will report to the IC upon arrival to obtain his or her assignment.
Departments can also directly call chaplains (the on-call schedule provides everyone’s phone number) after a traumatic scene, or anytime they believe their personnel or their families are in need of assistance.
BCCC exists to serve all first responder agencies in Boundary County. Please do not hesitate to use us!
BCCC exists to provide spiritual and emotional support through a ministry of presence among first responders.
Contact
Bonners Ferry, ID, United States, Idaho
(208) 267-3327
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