A Focus on First Responder Pain

Nick Murray

Moose Javian songwriter and Advanced Care Paramedic, Nicholas Hennink, has been hard at work on a few projects as of late.

Previously, we had covered the release of his single "Home"

But, more recently, he has launched a Facebook called A Focus on First Responder Pain. The page is where he will publish news stories and videos he creates that deal with issues core to first responders.

"We do educational videos about things like depression, anxiety, PTSD and addiction" Nick said.

Nick isn't alone in this venture. He works with different people every time. Including other medics from Moose Jaw and Regina. "There will be testimonials, people talking about their struggles. The whole point is to break the stigma and help people get some help."

And they are looking for other people to submit stories, as well. "Anything that can help someone" he said.

In one of the videos already published, he alludes to their core demographic, first responders. "the fact is, we all get depressed. No one lives a perfect life. No one is perfect. But what about those people who witness constant pain and suffering every day?"

Nick claims the number one things a person can do to get help and get with depression, "believe it or not, is admitting that you have a problem. Come forward."

He hopes his outreach will help create awareness and encourage people to come forward.

"Have you ever asked yourself, why do I get sad? Why do I worry about the littlest things in life?" he asked in another video. Well, he wants to get to the root of that; and in A Focus' educational videos they have, and they plan on doing even more of that.

The page doesn't limit itself to first responders, though. It covers topics that reach a much larger audience than just that.

"It's basically mental health in general" he admitted.

So far, the feedback has been positive, Nick says. "It's not just people from Saskatchewan, but people from the states are contacting me to."

He aims to do one or two videos a month, and says he will make sure the page has a steady stream of content to keep people engaged.

Nick wants to be very clear that he encourages other people to come forward with their stories. "Anything that will help people" he reminded.

Aside from that, Nick is currently working on a full length album with Jared Robinson at Nebulus Entertainment.

"Things are looking good" he said. "We want to release another single before the album comes out at the end of the summer."

They are also working on three different music videos.

"One of them is an emergency services music video'" he said, adding "we want to make something impactful that shows the everyday trauma we deal with."

If you haven't yet heard Nick's music, give "Please Forgive Me" a shot.