Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the First Responder Wellness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Palm Bay officer returns after on-duty shooting as Survive First urges expanded wellness support
Summary
Officer Nicholas Franz, shot on Jan. 28, 2024, described a months-long recovery and credited support that helped him return to duty. Presenters from Survive First urged wider access to care, citing scholarship funds to cover treatment co-pays and raising concerns about officer suicides in Florida.
Officer Nicholas Franz, a City of Palm Bay police officer, said he was shot in the leg on Jan. 28, 2024, was out of duty for about four months and returned to work feeling changed by the experience.
"My name is officer Nicholas Franz, and I worked for the City of Palm Bay Police Department for 2 and a half years," Franz said, describing the injury and the emotional impact of his recovery. "When I got medically cleared, I was just wanting to come back to work as quick as possible because when I was hurt, I felt useless. I felt weak."
Speakers from Survive First, a national first-responder wellness group, used Franz's experience to underscore the need for ready access to mental-health care and to describe the organization's financial assistance program. A Survive First presenter said the group offers training, education and a scholarship fund meant to help first responders pay treatment co-pays that many cannot afford.
"Most police officers...don't get the care they need more for the reason of money than anything else," the presenter said, adding that Survive First's scholarship fund was created to address that barrier. He described instances in which local chiefs contacted the organization seeking help for individual officers and noted the group gives a President's Award to police leaders who prioritize officer wellness.
The presenter also relayed a disputed count of officer suicides in Florida: he said one organization reported four police suicides and that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) had found 44 in a single year. The claim was presented as the speaker's characterization of separate counts; no FDLE paperwork or other evidence was provided in the presentation.
Other presenters emphasized that officers repeatedly expose themselves to life-threatening scenes and that wellness programs must address stigma and be widely available across ranks and job types, including dispatchers and evidence technicians. "There has to be a component of wellness, everyday wellness for our men and women," one speaker said.
Speakers urged local agencies and stakeholders to consider partnering with Survive First to expand access to training and the scholarship fund. The presentation did not include a formal vote or an action directive from a government body; presenters framed the session as informational and promotional for Survive First's services.
Next steps were not specified in the transcript; presenters said their work and outreach would continue.
