What is a Support Officer?

In times of crisis, the Support Officers assist first responders throughout Skagit County to provide additional support for people outside the normal scope of first responders and allow emergency workers to get back into service more quickly. The goal of this program is to care for all members of our community to help everyone survive and eventually thrive following crisis.

Support Officers are all volunteers and are "on call" 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.  They can be requested through the Skagit 911 Dispatch Center for any incident.  They are also paged out automatically for:

• A working structure fire of second alarm or greater

• A critical Incident

• Injury of Death of a firefighter

• Any incident including the possibility of a fatality or serious injury.

• Support Officers have been trained to report to, and work, within, the Incident Command System.  The Support Officer will coordinate total victim needs and continue developing a "post event" plan of action involving appropriate support. This may include:

• Notification to the family members

• Identify immediate needs and assist in accomplishing them.

• Notification to other support agencies

• Establish as the family allows a natural follow-through relationship.

• Make note of any problem areas that will need future attention.

All of the Support Officers have had advanced training in Crisis Intervention, Personal counseling and have working knowledge of Law Enforcement procedures, Emergency Medical Response, and work closely with the local hospitals, Coroner's Office and local funeral homes.

No one is immune from crisis. Tragedy or sudden death can strike anyone at any time. Support Officers help those left in sudden shock and grieving understand what to expect in the days and weeks ahead following a crisis.

Support Officers offer their services free of charge, regardless of a family's financial situation. However, we depend of tax-deductible individual and corporate donations to provide this level of care.

Most Support Officers are Volunteer Firefighters in their local fire departments and work closely with all first responders throughout the county.

"You will never care how much we know, until you first know how much we care. You are not alone."