Walk the Talk - First Responder Peer Support

The book everyone has been asking for. Developed by using over 55 years of experience and knowledge by two titans in the peer support and trauma management world and best-known speakers on police trauma survival. “Walk the Talk”, introduces all the phenomenal “Boots-on-the-Ground” information that every organizational leader needs to have at their finger tips to go from having nothing or very little in place to reaching the gold standard in Peer and Trauma Support Systems within the workplace. It addresses:  Protecting Society's Protectors  Assessing an Organization's Awareness  Getting Management Onside  Organizational Pre-Hiring Preparedness  Organizational Support for Families  Middle Management Leadership  Developing CISM Teams  Developing Peer Support Teams  Staffing CISM and Peer Support Teams  Organizational Training for CISM and Peer Support Teams  How a CISM and Peer Support System Can Work  Walking the Talk - The Last Word  Survivor’s Testimonials

The book everyone has been asking for. Developed by using over 55 years of experience and knowledge by two titans in the peer support and trauma management world and best-known speakers on police trauma survival. “Walk the Talk”, introduces all the phenomenal “Boots-on-the-Ground” information that every organizational leader needs to have at their finger tips to go from having nothing or very little in place to reaching the gold standard in Peer and Trauma Support Systems within the workplace. It addresses:  Protecting Society's Protectors  Assessing an Organization's Awareness  Getting Management Onside  Organizational Pre-Hiring Preparedness  Organizational Support for Families  Middle Management Leadership  Developing CISM Teams  Developing Peer Support Teams  Staffing CISM and Peer Support Teams  Organizational Training for CISM and Peer Support Teams  How a CISM and Peer Support System Can Work  Walking the Talk - The Last Word  Survivor’s Testimonials

Staff Sergeant (Ret’d) Sylvio (Syd) A. Gravel, M.O.M. Syd Gravel is a former staff sergeant with thirty-one years of experience with the Ottawa Police Service. He is one of the founding fathers of Robin’s Blue Circle, a post-shooting trauma team of peers, established in 1988. Syd is a more than twenty-eight-year PTSD survivor and has been a peer supporter since 1988. In 2007, he was nominated, and inducted by his peers and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, for the Order of Merit in Policing, Canada. Since his retirement, he has devoted all his time and energy to speaking on developing resilience and resistance to trauma and setting up peer support systems. He has written and published "56 Seconds" and "How to Survive PTSD and Build Peer Support" and "Walk the Talk". In 2014, Syd developed a trail-blazing curriculum for the certification of peers in Canada, based on the guidelines and practice for the selection and training of peers developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. He has also developed a three-day peer training Curriculum for the "Transitions to Communities" Project for the Mood Disorders Society of Canada for Canadian Veterans. He has also designed a twenty-hour on-line Trauma Management Course for Simon Fraser University. Syd is also a peer facilitator and volunteer for "Soldiers Helping Soldiers", Ottawa a peer group who reaches out and supports homeless veterans. Syd is currently co-leading the Peer and Trauma Support Systems (P.A.T.S.S.) Team for the Mood Disorders Society of Canada. He is also a board director for Badge of Life Canada. In 2016 Syd was nominated as a Canadian Champion for Mental Health by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.