The Peoria Fire Department has a new program bringing chaplains to the scene of emergencies.
Chief Shawn Sollberger says he became interested in developing a fire chaplains program after seeing a similar program in action at the Peoria Police Department. He started asking questions and researching if there was a similar model to follow for a fire department.
“What I started to find is there wasn't much information out there in regards to chaplains, related to fire service that piqued my interest even more,” Sollberger said. “You know, are we potentially embarking on something that's relatively unique?”
Sollberger says the idea really came together with the addition of Peoria Pastor William Preston. Preston is a pastor at City on a Hill Church in Peoria. Sollberger says he’s been in the area for 20 years and has a son who’s a police officer.
Sollberger credits Preston with the idea to decentralize the department’s pastor program. Of the department’s 12 stations, 11 have their own designated chaplain.
“So where that's extremely unique is like if we, let's say, we have a call in whatever fire station, whatever territory if you have someone from that area, more than likely, they may know the person that's on the scene, the family that's impacted by this,” Sollberger said. “So you just increase the likelihood of having a positive impact.”
The chaplains are there for the firefighters as well.
“The average person only experiences four traumatic events in their life, that they actually experienced, that they feel,” Sollberger said. “Whether that be the death of a loved one, and you can fill in the blanks from there. A firefighter may see that in a day.”
However, Sollberger says they are still being careful to separate chaplain assistance from mental health resources. Preston and Mental Health Specialist Colleen Mack work together out of the same office.
“So they try to respect each other's space,” Sollberger said. “So if they feel like it's a mental health related thing, they kind of kick it to Colleen.”
The chaplain team is already in action, though they’re still ironing out the exact flow of procedures. Sollberger says it’s clear the chaplains will have a substantial impact.
“It was how you can put someone in someone's life, someone that they don't even know and fill a void in that moment,” he said. “It's very inspiring.”
