Pride on the line: Former Nebraska medic fights city over use of PTSD service dog

  • Source: Lincoln Journal Star
  • Published: 01/14/2019 12:00 AM

Paramedic Rob Ravndal went on hundreds of emergency calls before the one response that ultimately ended his career at Lincoln Fire and Rescue. The trauma of that call, a 3-year-old's drowning in 2015, sent the father of young children into a spiral. Nightmares. Breakdowns. A general sense of fear. Even after his bosses pulled him off the ambulance, Ravndal struggled at work and at home as he grappled with post-traumatic stress disorder. One of five firefighters or paramedics nationwide will suffer from PTSD during their career, according to the Journal for Occupational Health Psychology. Ravndal sought treatment, eventually becoming the first Lincoln firefighter to use a service dog. But he never returned to full-duty and ended his nine-year tenure in October, walking away from the job the he said made him feel like a superhero.



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