Colorado fire and EMS explain trauma response for first responders after tragic toddler death

CBS News

24-07-2025

In the wake of a toddler's tragic death near Willow Grove Open Space in the Colorado Town of Silverthorne, the profound sense of grief is extending beyond the family to the emergency responders who searched for the child and the community now grappling with a loss in its own backyard.
While the Summit County Coroner's Office has not yet released details surrounding the death of the one-and-a-half-year-old boy, the emotional impact of the call is weighing heavily on the multiple law enforcement agencies, emergency medical responders and firefighting organizations that responded.
"This is a type of incident that, even people who are not connected to what happened, you feel it in the pit of your stomach," said Steve Lipsher, Community Resource Officer for Summit Fire & EMS, one of the many agencies that assisted in the search. "It's a horrible tragedy that you wouldn't wish on anybody."
The toddler was reported missing shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday along the Blue River Trail. A massive search effort was launched, but about two hours later, the Town of Silverthorne announced the child had been found dead.
"You feel a profound sense of sadness for the family, for that little kid," Lipsher said. While the family is obviously hit hardest by something like this, Lipsher explains that when you have that many people out looking for a child like that, many locals are experiencing what he calls "second-hand trauma."
For the emergency crews on scene, the incident is a sharp and painful reminder of the emotional toll of their work.
"It hurts us," Lipsher said. "We're empathetic people by nature."
He said his agency has robust internal support systems to help personnel process such traumatic events, including crew debriefs and an internal peer support team. Tuesday night, they had one of those crew debriefs.
Lipsher said this reflects a significant cultural shift away from the historical expectation for responders to simply "tough it out."
"For the longest time, for centuries, there was the image of the big tough rescuer, hero, first responder," he said. "And the culture was that you tough it out. Bottle it up, swallow it, don't worry about it. Unfortunately, the psychologists will tell you that probably had a very deleterious effect on people."
Trauma in first responders can manifest in numerous ways, including PTSD. The modern approach Summit Fire and EMS takes is to encourage responders to talk through the trauma, or at least sit with those who are going through it together, though Lipsher acknowledged it's not always easy.
"We don't want people holding things inside that are going to eat at them and weigh heavily on their psyches," he said, adding a somber reality, "Although some of that is going to be inevitable just by the exposure to what they see."
The official investigation into the child's disappearance and death remains ongoing. Authorities have not officially identified the child or the family.