‘Peace of mind’: First responders balance mental health with harrowing efforts after Helene

There’s nothing normal about what’s taking place in western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene ravaged mountain towns and left thousands in despair.

But a group of rescuers is working to bring peace of mind to families with lingering questions and missing loved ones.

In Henderson County, Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz spent hours with a team of firefighters from Kannapolis and Salisbury in the days following Helene.

“Every person we see, we try to stop and just check on them, and they look fine, they’re good -- but we just, you know, just remind them that these guys are here working, trying to help them,” said Kannapolis Fire Chief Tracy Winecoff.

That’s their entire reason for being here - to help. Each member of this team wants to save lives.

Salisbury Fire Department Captain Zack Grimes led a team to check a section of a creek after reports from a campground about missing campers. Locating bodies is now part of their reality.

“It’s not anything we like to really do - we would rather be in the rescue mode and be assisting people that we could actually assist, so this does change our mindset a little bit,” Grimes said. “But we’re here for peace of mind to the community, and help out in any way we can.”

“If this gives somebody peace of mind finding their loved one, then you know, job done,” Grimes said.

A truck took Goetz and the crews as far as it could, but when the terrain became too rugged, the rescuers continued on foot.

“When they come back, you can tell they’re both physically and mentally drained,” said Winecoff.

Physical and mental challenges

Winecoff said he knows all too well what work like this can do to the mental health of a first responder.

“It’s probably one of the most complicated emotions you’ll ever have where you see the good and the bad almost simultaneously, you know. You see where you’re helping someone, but in the same sense, they’ve lost everything,” Winecoff said. “And I think that’s why the mental health aspect, you can’t - nobody can do that on a day-to-day basis.”

Winecoff referenced the personal thoughts rescuers have when they find someone who has passed away.

“They’ve discovered several instances of loss of life, you know, their first instinct is to say like, ‘Well should we, or could we have done more?’” Winecroff said.

Radio traffic reinforced the chief’s words, as a crew said they found a house with two people dead inside.

“You hope that, you know, that everybody’s clear and everybody got out. But unfortunately, we kind of knew that wouldn’t always be the case,” Winecoff said.

When the crew arrived after their trek, they shared the imagery of the hellacious terrain they faced.

“Pretty much the worst you could imagine,” Grimes told Goetz. “We would hike up 100 yards or so just to find out we had to go back and trek up into the woods or up to the road to pass a mudslide.”

Exhausted, they packed into the truck once more to wait for the next mission.

Addressing the impacts

Winecoff hauled the crew back to base and out of the devastation, for now. He knows when they eventually go home, they won’t be the same as when they started this mission. Part of his job will be to do all he can to make sure they are OK.

“We can’t do what we did decades ago and just say, ‘Oh you’re tough, you’ll handle it,’” Winecoff said.

“What do you do?” Goetz asked.

“The responders are going to want to tell their stories. They want to share what they saw, and not from a, you know, ‘Hey look at me and look what I did,’ but just because they want people to understand that this is bad, right?” Winecoff said.

“And I think that helps for them to just have somebody, you know, whether it’s the family, whether it’s friends, peers, counselors, their pastors, whoever. And we stress on that.”

The crews are provided resources from the North Carolina Peer Support Team, which includes 24/7 crisis lines.

We have a comprehensive list of mental health resources for all 22 counties in the Channel 9 viewing area. You can find it at this link.

(VIDEO: Crews in Avery County search for missing storm victims)

Crews in Avery County search for missing storm victims

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