Identifying veterans in crisis is saving lives in rural Oklahoma

ADA Okla. (KOKH) — Oklahoma is among the top states for veterans to live, work and retire, but with that come specific challenges that much of Oklahoma isn't equipped to handle. A group of volunteers made up of veterans and community members in Pontotoc County is working to fix that, they call themselves the Veterans Rally Point.

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One of the biggest issues in rural Oklahoma is access to essential services, particularly mental health care. All too often, law enforcement officers become the mental health first responders. However, it is not always necessary for someone to go to jail if they are simply struggling with a mental health issue explains Ada police officer Joe Machetta.

“It's just a whole different experience when you look at something other people don't have a perspective on,” Machetta explained of responding to incidents that involve veterans who are experience the effects of PTSD.

Machetta is a veteran himself and he's also the police liaison to the newly formed Pontotoc County Veterans Rally Point.

“It just seemed like in my job I had already seen several times where we had ran into veterans that really needed help,” Machetta told FOX 25. “You just look at them and you're like, man I wish I could do something for them but they really wasn't a whole lot we could do.”

But what could one officer do? The problem was one he took to the organizational meetings for the Rally Point. There he discovered resources he did not know existed. People and organizations willing to help the homeless find house, groups that would feed the hungry and help for those facing a mental health crisis.

Machetta has in turn worked to get more training for police officers on veterans issues and used his own experiences to defuse potentially deadly situations.

“Veterans can relate a lot to veterans and you can push someone off to the side and 'hey man nice ink where'd you serve at,’” Machetta said. He believes officers need more training in recognizing a veteran in crisis, because even every day sounds can trigger flashbacks to horrific events.

Machetta said his first year on the job he volunteered for an overtime patrol on the Fourth of July. Just hearing the fireworks going off was mentally challenging for him, even with his police training.

“We don't walk around with an id on our head saying I’m a veteran I need help.”

Perhaps one of the biggest successes of Machetta’s involvement in the Rally Point is inside a small manila envelope. The packet contains connections to local resources for everything from house to health care. The key, Machetta said, is reminding veterans that life is its own battle and you would never go into combat alone.

“You don't go anywhere without your battle buddy.”

In the short time he’s been providing the veterans packets to officers to use in the field, he’s already heard of two people who have found housing and are now off the streets. They are no longer a danger to themselves or others and are getting the care they need.

It is another success of what has become a small army of volunteers with the Rally Point.