One day, I'm riding in the back of the fire engine, because, when you are in the fire department, that's what you do. Then a guy looks at me and says "so, what are you good at?" "Nothing, really" "Come on, everybody's good at something! That guy, was Marcello Trejo. He was good at plenty of things: Fitness. Compassion. Keeping people laughing. He was the kind of person that when he came to mind, I would wonder what kind of extraordinary impact he would have on the entire fire service. He was not the guy I would have thought would have taken his own life. TD Jakes talks in one of his sermons that some people can be going through turmoil and no one ever know it. Are you one of those folks with turmoil hidden behind a smile? Would you know what to do if someone you knew was that person?

When I take a flight, the flight attendant always has in his or her safety briefing that when we lose cabin pressure, first put your mask, then help the person next to you. In the military and in public safety, we rarely do that. Instead, we fail to see how taking care of ourselves, can be the best things we can do to help others. Instead, like a superhero from the 50's or 60's, we set out to save the world on our own. Not realizing that superheroes of today need, and get, help from ordinary people who care about them. 

For the month of Sep, I've decided that every day, I'll do 22 pushups for the military suicides that happen every day. Then another 13 Burpees to represent initiative 13, the Behavioral Health Initiative from the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives. I started to video the workouts, but then I thought "I'm no star athlete, what's the point in that?" Instead, every day, I'm going post something I learn about mental health or suicide. A story. A fact. Info about an organization. Sometimes it will be a video, sometimes just an encouraging word.

The challenge I have for you, not to do push-ups. Go learn something new about mental health or suicide, and post on my blog at www.helpasks4u.wordpress.com  Whether the help is for you personally, or if the help is for someone you care about, remember this:

"Ask for Help, because help always asks for you." Marcello Trejo

About the Author

NICK BASKERVILLE has had the honor of serving in the United States Air Force for 10 years, followed by 4 years in the United States Air Force Reserves. He attained the rank of Technical Sergeant (E-6). Nick also has 16 years of fire service time, with 13 years of that being in a career department in Northern Virginia. Nick has had the opportunity to hold positions in the Company Officer's section of the Virginia Fire Chief's Association (VFCA), The Virginia Fire Officer's Academy (VFOA) staff, and in the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters (IABPFF) as a chapter president, a Health and Wellness committee member, and one of the IABPFF representatives to the Fire Service Occupational Cancer Alliance.