Lynette is the silver lining of a tragedy because she and her team provide support in people’s darkest days. She is responsible for the Glendale Crisis Response Program, which includes therapy dog Topaz.

The Glendale Fire Department Crisis Response Program provides crisis intervention. Their philosophy is to deliver an innovative service delivery that involves immediate Crisis Intervention to family, victims, and witnesses of tragic events; including but not limited to fires, drownings, unexpected death, or to support victims of a crime.

This program has been an effective tool for the past eleven years in dealing primarily with crisis intervention after a tragic circumstance through the utilization of trained volunteers and student interns.  Volunteers and interns are recruited and complete rigorous training in victimology, crisis intervention, communication skills, sudden and violent death, stages of grief, death notification, post-traumatic stress disorder along with many other profound and bitter circumstances.

Lynette works endless hours in the community and helps people determine what to do next while working through a traumatic experience. There are also no boundaries with her. After the Yarnell tragedy, she immediately reached out to Prescott and started volunteering her time and services for two weeks up there, literally working around the clock to plan 19 tragic funerals. Lynette has dedicated her life to helping people move forward in their lives and she continues to be an excellent Samaritan in her community.

A new addition to the Crisis Response program was adopted in 2008 to enhance the crisis intervention efforts. Lynette, is the owner of Topaz a three year old yellow Labrador retriever who was adopted from Paws with a Cause which is a service dog school.  Topaz is a tool used much like a therapy dog in a hospital, but the Glendale Fire Department uses him immediately on dispatched calls to calm down children and adults who love animals.  Several law enforcement agencies use canine crisis response; however Glendale Fire Department is the first fire department in the nation to embrace this program staying with the mission statement and providing innovative ways to give excellent customer service.  There is no doubt that Lynette and Topaz have had a positive impact in the Glendale community.

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