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Pulse First Responders to Speak at Multi-Media Event on PTSD

The panel will convene first responders and others to discuss the ways in which PTSD affects the first responders community and whether Florida’s new legislation on the issue goes far enough to remedy the immense needs.


pulse nightclub tragedy in orlando

Photo Credit: The Daily City



ProPublica is partnering with 90.7 WMFE for an event entitled PTSD in First Responders: An Audio-Visual Experience and Conversation. It happens tonight, Wednesday June 6 at the at the downtown Orlando Public Library 6:00pm-8:30pm.


Nearly two years after the Pulse nightclub shooting, this event will convene first responders and their families, public officials (including Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Sen. Victor Torres), and others to discuss the ways in which PTSD affects the first responders community, how Orlando’s police and fire departments handle the disorder in their ranks, and whether Florida’s new legislation on the issue goes far enough to remedy the immense needs.


Before the discussion (6-7 pm), attendees can immerse themselves in the perspectives of five first responders, based on WMFE’s audio interviews and large-scale photography. See more event details at wmfe.org/ptsd.


The ProPublica/WMFE partnership is a product of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network, a yearlong initiative to support investigative journalism at local and regional news organizations.



Panelists include:

  1. Josh Granada, former engineer and firefighter who responded to the Pulse nightclub shooting

  2. Omar Delgado, former Eatonville Police Officer who responded to the Pulse nightclub shooting

  3. Jessica Realin, whose husband, Gerry Realin, was on the hazmat team cleaning up after the Pulse nightclub shooting

  4. Nancy Rosado, former police officer and a former New York City police sergeant during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack. She now works as a mental health counselor and specializes in treating first responders with PTSD.

  5. Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith

  6. Florida Sen. Victor Torres

  7. Michael Saxe, head of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 145

  8. Geoff Bichler, workers’ compensation attorney in Orlando specializing in representing first responders.

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