{"id":12448,"date":"2025-01-27T14:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T19:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=12448"},"modified":"2025-01-27T14:27:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T19:27:17","slug":"blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 27, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media Contacts:<\/strong> Marian Hunter, Marian.Hunter@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a>
\nMary Kathryn Allen, (434) 947-5934, MaryKathryn.Allen@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Campbell County, Va.) – The Blue Ridge EMS (BREMS) Council, a regional EMS Council under the Virginia Department of Health\u2019s Office of EMS, is thrilled to welcome its newest team member Billie, a highly trained yellow Labrador Retriever who officially began her service as a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) K-9 on January 13, 2025, at Campbell County Public Safety. Billie will play a vital role in supporting the mental health and well-being of first responders in the region, which includes Appomattox, Amherst, Bedford, Campbell and the City of Lynchburg.<\/p>\n

Billie was generously awarded to BREMS by The Hero Academy, a nonprofit organization in Fredericksburg, Va., through a community grant. Known for its dedication to providing expertly trained K-9s to first responders and military veterans, The Hero Academy exemplifies its mission of serving those who protect our communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly grateful to The Hero Academy for entrusting us with Billie,\u201d said Mary Kathryn Allen, Regional Director of the Blue Ridge EMS Council<\/strong>. \u201cShe will be an invaluable resource in providing emotional support to our first responders, who face high-stress situations daily. Having Billie as part of our CISM team underscores our commitment to prioritizing the mental health of our emergency personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billie\u2019s work will focus on comforting first responders following critical incidents, reducing stress levels, and promoting emotional recovery. Her calm and friendly demeanor makes her perfectly suited for this important role.<\/p>\n

As part of her ongoing development, Billie and her handler Michelle Turner, Deputy Director of Campbell County Public Safety, will undergo additional training during the week of February 3, provided by The Hero Academy. This training will further enhance her ability to assist first responders in their most challenging moments.<\/p>\n

The Hero Academy\u2019s K-9 program has been a lifeline for first responders and military veterans across the nation, addressing the unique mental health challenges they face. Billie\u2019s addition to the BREMS team marks another milestone in the organization\u2019s efforts to support those who dedicate their lives to helping others.<\/p>\n

For more information about CISM K-9 Billie, the BREMS Council, or The Hero Academy\u2019s K-9 program, please contact BREMS by email info@vabrems.org<\/a> or by phone (434) 947-5934.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Picture of CISM K-9 Billie. Photo provided by the BREMS Council.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 27, 2025 Media Contacts: Marian Hunter, Marian.Hunter@vdh.virginia.gov Mary Kathryn Allen, (434) 947-5934, MaryKathryn.Allen@vdh.virginia.gov Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty\u00a0 (Campbell County, Va.) – The Blue Ridge EMS (BREMS) Council, a regional EMS Council under the Virginia Department of Health\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12448","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nBlue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 27, 2025 Media Contacts: Marian Hunter, Marian.Hunter@vdh.virginia.gov Mary Kathryn Allen, (434) 947-5934, MaryKathryn.Allen@vdh.virginia.gov Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty\u00a0 (Campbell County, Va.) – The Blue Ridge EMS (BREMS) Council, a regional EMS Council under the Virginia Department of Health\u2019s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-27T19:27:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/01\/Billie-BREMS-CISM-K9.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty - Newsroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Billie-BREMS-CISM-K9.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-27T19:00:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-27T19:27:17+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Billie-BREMS-CISM-K9.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Billie-BREMS-CISM-K9.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty - Newsroom","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty - Newsroom","og_description":"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 27, 2025 Media Contacts: Marian Hunter, Marian.Hunter@vdh.virginia.gov Mary Kathryn Allen, (434) 947-5934, MaryKathryn.Allen@vdh.virginia.gov Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty\u00a0 (Campbell County, Va.) – The Blue Ridge EMS (BREMS) Council, a regional EMS Council under the Virginia Department of Health\u2019s […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_modified_time":"2025-01-27T19:27:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/01\/Billie-BREMS-CISM-K9.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/","name":"Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty - Newsroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/01\/Billie-BREMS-CISM-K9.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-01-27T19:00:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-27T19:27:17+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/01\/Billie-BREMS-CISM-K9.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/01\/Billie-BREMS-CISM-K9.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/blue-ridge-ems-council-welcomes-its-new-critical-incident-stress-management-k-9-billie-to-report-for-duty\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blue Ridge EMS Council Welcomes its New Critical Incident Stress Management K-9, Billie, to Report for Duty"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12448"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12456,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12448\/revisions\/12456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}