BEAVERTON, Ore. (KPTV) – A coalition of public safety agencies in Washington County is seeking state funding to expand a wellness program for first responders county-wide.
Since 2022, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue has partnered with the Boulder Crest Foundation to offer “Struggle Well” training to its personnel.
The peer-based program, grounded in the science of post-traumatic growth, helps first responders transform job-related stress and trauma into personal development while providing coping mechanisms for emotional distress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Sammi Lundeby, a firefighter paramedic with TVF&R, completed the training in 2024 and now serves as a guide for her peers. She said the program builds resilience after difficult calls and helps responders transition from constant vigilance on duty to peace at home.
“That transition space, there’s friction there,” Lundeby said. “How do I go from living 24 hours in a station where I’m hyper vigilant about looking around me and what to do, to how do I transition into my home life where I’m not treating that like a fire station and barking at the people in my life?”
About 40% of TVF&R staff have completed the training. Now, leaders want to expand it department-wide and bring it to other first responder agencies across the county.
During a Thursday press conference in Beaverton, TVF&R Fire Chief Deric Weiss, Washington County Sheriff Caprice Massey, Tigard Police Chief Jamey McDonald and others highlighted the program’s importance.
“Knowing that after 5 years as a first responder in the state of Oregon, PTSD can be presumptively means that it is our responsibility to ensure that we are providing a robust array of resources for our staff to be physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially well,” Massey said.
According to Weiss, the agencies are requesting a one-time $500,000 grant to fund training, event logistics and overtime compensation.
The county-wide program would allow fire, law enforcement and dispatch personnel to participate.
“Six hundred people at Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue is a lot, but it’s a small sample set,” Weiss said. “If we can do all first responders in Washington County, now there’s this huge sample set that shows it works. We’ve proven it works and it can’t be ignored, and now people have to take a look at it and say, you know what? We need to spread this across the state.”
Agency leaders said they will continue lobbying for financial support in Salem and plan to testify before multiple legislative committees.
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