Sheriff's Office

TIP: Trauma Intervention Program (Helping Families in Crisis)

The call goes out to dispatch: a family is in crisis after the tragic death of a family member. The next call that goes out is to a Trauma Intervention Program (TIP) volunteer, who many times gets out of bed to come into the crisis situation with emergency responders to focus on the needs of the family.

TIP of Northern Nevada is a non-profit organization where citizen volunteers respond 24/7 to traumatic incidents at the request of police, fire and hospital personnel to support those who are emotionally traumatized. TIP volunteers provide emotional and practical support to victims of traumatic events such as death, suicide attempts, fires and burglaries. And they come from all walks of life. Some are retired; some are busy with their families but still find time to dedicate themselves to others, while others have lost a family member and understand how it feels to have a person beside you at the darkest of times.

“Our volunteers feel that they are doing very little, yet when we talk to the families, we are told that the volunteers are angels, that they wouldn’t have known how to cope without them.” said TIP Executive Director, Gabrielle Totton. “They were their rock when there was no one else to lean on.” Totton says she looks for qualified candidates with a good heart, understands what tragedy is like and can relate to others who are hurting. To learn more about TIP of Northern Nevada, you can go to www.tipnnv.org