Every Bear Goes Home
My name is Kristin Tucker Tinney and I am a firefighter/paramedic with Berkeley Fire Department in Berkeley California. I have been a firefighter/paramedic here for 17 years and within this time I developed and started Every Bear Goes Home (EBGH). This is an educational program designed for the students at the University of California, Berkeley...The Cal Bears!
During the six years that I was assigned to Engine 3 in the South Campus area of Berkeley, I saw firsthand the death and destruction of unsafe party practices of our students. I realized something more needed to be done to help educate these students so they didn't end up in the back of our ambulance, in the ER, or worse, the morgue. This is when EBGH was born.
Over the last 7 years, several Berkeley firefighter/paramedics and I have presented to fraternities, sororities and co-ops. Who better to have teaching you than the men and women that show up when you or a friend have to call 911?
During our presentations we teach the students about the risks of alcohol and drug use, fire and life safety, situational awareness and sexual assault. These discussions are open, honest and raw. They lead to lots of information sharing between the firefighters and the students. The students love us! Every semester they ask us to come back to give these presentations.
This program has been a huge success at UC Berkeley. I look to motivate other campuses/fire departments around the country to develop similar programs in order to save the lives of their students.