Cops Alive | Careers, stress and health - survival

Another good cop fell in the line of duty last week. Nicholas Heine was 30 year old, but he wasn’t killed by an assailant’s bullet nor was he stabbed or beaten.

Quoting from Nick Bonham of THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN “Nicholas “Nick” Heine, a seven-year veteran of the Pueblo Police Department and a decorated and well-liked officer, collapsed about 2 a.m. while running between bar disturbances in the Historic Union Avenue District.

Heine died shortly later at Parkview Medical Center. He was 30.

Heine’s mother and co-worker, Detective Pat Heine, a 19-year veteran of the police department, said her son died of a heart problem that no one knew he had.

“Nick was in very good health,” she said. “The coroner said there was a congenital heart defect and it put his heart into a fatal, irregular rhythm. This could’ve happened 10 years ago or 25 years from now. It was just one of those things that happened.

“I commend the officers who were with him, that held on to him and didn’t let him hit the ground. Everyone, the rescue units, people at the hospital, they did everything known to man to save him.”

Pueblo County Coroner James Kramer said Heine’s heart problem was “uncommon, but not infrequent.” Kramer said Heine died of natural causes, not a heart attack.

Nick Heine is survived by a wife of seven years, Melissa; and daughters Nichole, 7, and Rebecca, 4. He also is survived by a younger brother, Jason Heine, 28. His mother Det. Pat Heine is also a 19 year veteran of the Pueblo Police Deptartment. To read the full text of the article in the Chieftain please CLICK HERE: http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/06/27/news/local/doc48648a2c2c587772320969.txt

As with any line of duty death there are no easy answers and no ways to make it feel any better but there are always lessons and the best way we can all honor Nick’s memory or that of any other fallen comrade is to gather any lessons that are available from their deaths so that they will not have died in vein.

As I grieved for Nick I was also wondering how his wife and kids and mother and brother and all the friends he left behind will cope. I wondered if he had done anything to help secure the future of his kids and if his wife will be able pick up the pieces. Most cops can plan a tactical approach to a robbery call better than we plan for our financial future. Did Nick even have a will?

As painful as many of the things that a police officer becomes involved in are, the best we can all do is to learn from the experiences and plan our actions accordingly. The very same day that I heard about Nick’s death I found the following post on the PoliceOne Wellness Forum labeled as “Wellness Success Story”.

“Greetings This is Lt. Col Jeffery W. Hart Asst. Chief of Police for the City of Morganfield Kentucky PD. I have never been a real advocate of Wellness training until April 2005 when at 43 and at 258 Pounds I was diagnosed with a Squeeze off on the back side of my heart. Under extreme Physical exertion the bottom third of my heart was being denied o2 because my heart was pounding so strongly it was closing the main vessel on the back side. This occurred after responding to an armed robbery alarm.

The simple fix was a stent in the occulded vessel which worked, however the required daily drug cocktail that ensued ruined my marriage and after two years I was fed up. I have lost 68 pounds and with medical advice dropped three of the five meds that i was on and now average 40 miles a week on a Bicycle. I feel better now that i ever have in my life. I actually weigh 10 pounds less than I did when they hired me 23 years ago. For those officers just coming out of the academy Never ever give up on your PT, Establish a Habit of PT for the rest of your life, you will live longer better stronger lives. Regardless if your agency requires it. Mine does not, and As a policy maker I am wrestling with ways to get everyone back into it. I cannot tell you how important this is to me for you to stay with your PT, I nearly died from ambivilance to it. A simple thing like 52 extra pounds and a relatively minor birth defect almost cost me my life.

Watch those hands, wear that armor Retreat is a viable option until cover is available.

Jeffery Hart (”You can CLICK HERE to go to the forum.)

Jeffery was lucky and Nick was not. As we all know some things are beyond our control. Others are not.

How’s your luck?
How’s your heart?
If something happened to you today would your loved ones be ok?

Because we have stressful careers, because we have dangerous jobs, because we hold the trust of the community and because we have families we must plan for our lives, we must plan for the safety of our peers, we must plan the safety of the people we serve and we must plan for on-going security of our families.

Here are some resources that might be of help to you:

CLICK HERE for a link to Wills for Heroes a FREE and non profit service for police officers, fire fighters and other first responders in the U.S. provided by a collection of attorneys who donate their time and expertise. http://www.willsforheroes.org/

For more information about the Wills for Heroes program here is an excellent FAQ page created by the Young Lawyers Division of the Utah State Bar about the Wills for Heroes Program CLICK HERE or Visit: http://www.utahbar.org/sections/yld/willsforheroes/faq.html

For those of you working in the U.K. I found this site for Roland & Smith who are Insurance Brokers & Independent Financial Advisors listed with NARPO The National Association of Retired Police Officers in the United Kingdom CLICK HERE or Visit: http://www.rolandsmith.co.uk/

For comparison or just general interest if you don’t work in Hong Kong, here’s some information available to the members of the Hong Kong Police Force: CLICK HERE or Visit: http://www.police.gov.hk/hkp-home/english/ex/ex_corner.htm

The mission of CopsAlive is to gather information, ideas and strategies to help policing professionals plan for happy, healthy and successful lives on the job and beyond. Please take a few minutes now to do some planning for your future and for the future for those that you love.