|
Emergency Services Chaplain Bill Lotz . . .
-
Recruits, trains and maintains the crew of volunteer chaplains
that respond to fires and serious injuries from Sunnyside to Walla
Walla.
-
Has organized a paging system for the various fire and police
departments, so that the emergency workers can call for the chaplains at
any time, and have them be on the scene for the emergency workers or the
people in need.
-
Also does debriefing of critical incidents with groups around
town, in schools, etc.
-
Has helped set up a “safe room” in some of the schools when
students have experienced a traumatizing event.
-
Bill Lotz received "Chaplain of the Year" Award-October 28, 2004
from the Federation of Fire Chaplains (see article below).
Chaplain Lotz is committed to serving the
communities and emergency response agencies of the Columbia Basin. He can
be reached at:
Bill's
office phone number is 783-7416 holismoke@msn.com
Also read an article from Our
Newsletter by Chaplain Lotz entitled:
"What
Fires-up the Fire Chaplain"
Chaplain Bill Lotz
Director of Emergency Service Chaplains
"Emergency Guidance"
By Nathan Isaacs
Herald staff
writer
Photo compliments of
Tri-City Herald Paul T. Erickson
Fire
Chaplain Bill Lotz stops mid-sentence to listen to an emergency call coming over the speakers in the downtown Kennewick fire
station and it's then that you realize this guy is always on
the job - and loves it.
Lotz and about two dozen
volunteer ministers work with police and fire departments from
Kennewick to Sunnnyside to help, emotionally and spiritually,
the secondary victims of traumatic events.
The chaplains provide support to those who watch helplessly in a
daze as their homes burn or as a loved one receives emergency
medical treatment.
The
Emergency Chaplaincy Program,
which Lotz initiated in 1987 and
is now under the sponsorship of the Tri-Cities Chaplaincy, also
helps emergency workers deal with the stress of the job so they
don't bring it home at shift's end.
For that work and for helping create a national training manual for
other emergency chaplains, Lotz was recently named the Fire
Chaplain of the Year by the National Federation of Fire
Chaplains. It's been hard, though, to give him proper
recognition.
The Chaplaincy planned a small celebration for Chaplain Lotz,
however, the guy works 24/7 and was responding to the needs of a
family in crisis at the time of the event," said Dave
Riddle, executive director of the Tri-Cities Chaplaincy.
"He's great," said Kennewick Fire Chief Bob Kirk. "He's my
hero." "Bill is one of the best, absolutely," said
Richland Fire Chief Grant Baynes. Lotz's success comes
from the marriage of his faith in God -- with his passion for
firefighting. He once was a volunteer firefighter for
Benton County Fire District 1. He explains the program as
being a resource for both the emergency workers and the
community.
The Chaplaincy web site explains that emergency chaplains respond as
needed to crises scenes, minister spiritually and emotionally to
victims and their families, provide communication between
emergency workers and victims, follow an incident as it
transitions from home to hospital or elsewhere, connect victims
to other community support such as the Red Cross or other
clergy, and maintain personal and professional relationships
with emergency workers.
Through his work and in completing his doctoral thesis in
ministry, Lotz created the template for what has become a
nationally recognized training manual for other fire chaplains
in the country. "I can't tell you how good this program is
to the community." Kirk said.
|
