First Responders Serving First Responders around the world.
Upcoming Trips
We are currently serving first responders in Nicaragua. Trips are scheduled in April and November.
The Story
Since 2010 Responders without Borders has conducted 23 weeklong training seminars Haiti, attended by approximately 575 officers and command staff. 50 officers representing 25 different agencies have joined in this effort. Beginning in 2023, Responders Without Borders began traveling to Nicaragua, serving the National Police there.
Responder Life adopted this effort in 2012. It has become one of our core services offered to first responders.
While we call ourselves a training team, we do much more than train. We build relationships by interacting and encouraging our students. Our students become better and safer in their work. Many change their perspectives and see the bigger picture of the importance of their jobs and the impacts they have in/on their communities. We make friends and have fun.
We take our spouses, friends, and family members with us. They form the Service Team. The Service Team helps with administrative support and then serves in the field, helping with projects serving widows, children, and the vulnerable. The projects depend on the needs and skill sets of the Service Team members. When the training schedule allows, members of the Training Team often join the Service Team for one of the days of the mission.
The Service Team also spends time with the spouses of our students, encouraging them in their marriages and families. Many team members have found that by sharing in this ministry with family, their marriages and families also become stronger. This is a life-changing opportunity.
Our teams are open to active and retired law enforcement, fire, EMT, dispatch, and chaplains, as well as our spouses, family, and friends.
Topics covered during training
Law Enforcement
Officer Safety
Weapons handling
Defense Tactics
First Aid/CPR
Procedural Justice
Investigations/Interview
Fire Services
Under Development
What to Expect
A common thread throughout the classes is the premise that justice is reflected in the character of God and has critical implications for how law enforcement engages and serves the community. This leads to a discussion concerning ethics, fairness, care, and service.
In addition to the core training, students are given an opportunity to attend an optional bible study where spiritual issues are discussed. Most officers are told they cannot be police officers and Christians, so they must choose between feeding their families or faith in God. This option has given officers a way to think about how faith is integrated with their law enforcement profession and daily life.
We end each week with a banquet and graduation ceremony. Students have been able to show their certificates and get better assignments and promotions.
Routinely, former students look us up when they hear we are in Haiti. They report to us how much the training meant to them and the impact it has had on their lives. The program is growing in Haiti, with a developing Leadership Course, Firefighting Training Course (Firefighters are a specialty unit within the PNH), and Train the Trainer. We are also working with pastors to create a viable Police Chaplaincy program.
Police officers are not the only ones participating. Many are accompanied by spouses, their children, and friends. This group forms the Service Team. They assist with some of the training, but primarily they will go out into the communities and serve widows, orphans, and community projects.
We are currently researching expansion into other countries that have heard about our ministry and have asked us to train with them.
First Responders are first and foremost servants. This is an opportunity to serve and grow. It will change your life.
Join Us!
Interested in learning more?
Contact Tom McGranahan, our Mission Coordinator
Contact Us
Responders Without Borders is an initiative that deploys both active and retired emergency responders, along with their families and friends, to provide training and establish connections with their international counterparts. This program offers an invaluable opportunity to apply your unique skills and experiences in supporting fellow first responders and their families around the globe, enriching both your personal life and professional journey.
Participants are generally required to commit their personal time unless their respective agency or association can accommodate special or temporary duty assignments. Members are tasked with raising their own funds for the initiative, but guidance on fundraising strategies will be provided.
To date, we have accomplished over 20 training missions in Haiti and are presently collaborating with the Nicaraguan National Police in the Matagalpa region of Nicaragua. We organize trips to Nicaragua twice a year, in April and November.
While a large portion of our team members hail from the Pacific Northwest, the program is open to all first responders throughout the country. We hold our meetings in a hybrid format, both in-person and virtually.