New Position Dedicated to Mental Health and First Responders

The League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust recently created and filled a new position to focus on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in our first responders’ community. Here is an excerpt from the position announcement:

The League of Minnesota Cities has hired Lora Setter to fill a newly created public safety program coordinator position. Lora will be working with public safety groups, treatment professionals, policy makers and other stakeholders to promote research, awareness, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of PTSD as it relates to emergency responders.

“Minnesota’s public safety professionals are there for our communities every day. Our goal is to make sure they have the resources and support they need to continue to provide these essential services,” said Trust Administrator Dan Greensweig. “Setter’s experience and expertise will help us accomplish that.”

The creation of this position is in response to member engagement and claims data indicating that a focus on mental health will help cities maintain high-quality public safety services.

Trust Board Chair and Centerville City Councilmember D. Love added, “We are hearing from our members that health and safety of the public and first responders is major priority. Aligning with our values, we felt a need to respond, build further expertise, and provide leadership on this risk issue in an effort to assist our members with new approaches.”

We welcome Lora on board and look forward to working with her.

For more information, see the full position announcement.

Up next: Handling Internal Complaints with LMC Human Resources

Stay safe,
Rob

HERO Center

The HERO Training Center — the state’s newest public safety training facility — had its grand opening this week in Cottage Grove. The full name of the facility is the Health Emergency Response Occupations (HERO) Training Center.

The project budget was $20.5 million: including an $11 million contribution from the State of Minnesota, and the remaining was funded by the cities of Cottage Grove and Woodbury. In addition to providing a safe location for EMS, fire and police to train, “it will create opportunities for hosting community-based safety education and training including CPR, firearms, and recreational vehicle training.”

The center is well laid out to allow multiple groups to use it at the same time. The center contains two indoor firearms ranges, with the larger one being 50 yards long, 12 lanes wide, and having the ability to bring a squad car in as a prop. There is a large mat room, a two-story tactical training area with moveable walls, a firearms simulator, and ample classrooms. The technology for the classrooms was donated by the South Washington County Telecommunications Commission.

Two “reality-based training houses” are located outside toward the rear of the main building. One house is a split-entry and the other is a rambler-style home that both have breach doors and tactical entry doors. The site has two acres of fields reserved for outdoor and K9 training.

The facility can be reserved by contacting the training center manager, Dan Anselment, at (651) 458-2811 or at danselment@herocentermn.org.

By the size of the crowd at the grand opening, there is a lot of interest and community pride in the project. We congratulate the cities of Cottage Grove and Woodbury — and their staff — on the completion of the center and a job well done.

Up next: The League’s New Position Dedicated to Mental Health and First Responders

Stay safe,
Rob