The Code Green Campaign

The Code Green Campaign takes its name from the color of the mental health awareness ribbon, and from the “code alerts” that EMS uses to designate an emergency patient. For example, if someone is having a stroke or heart attack that needs rapid intervention, we will tell the hospital the patient is having a “code stroke” or “code STEMI”. The idea is that we are calling a code alert on our mental health. The campaign has two main goals. Our primary goal is raising awareness of the high rates of mental health issues, substance abuse and suicide among first responders. Our secondary goal is providing education for responders on how to provide care for themselves and recognize issues in their peers. The campaign raises awareness by giving first responders an outlet to tell the story of their mental health issues anonymously, and then republishing those stories so they can be viewed by everyone. This allows us to see what each other have really gone through, and allows those of us who are struggling to understand that we are not alone. It also allows those who do not have first hand experience with mental health issues to see that mental health issues can affect anyone, which will hopefully decrease the stigma.