The Bingham County Sheriff’s Department is set to implement resilience equipment thanks to the Resilience Room Project, a nonprofit organization that held a fundraiser through the Idaho Gives campaign in May, as well as donating a zero-gravity chair and infrared heat/grounding mat.

“The zero-gravity chair lifts the feet above the heart and mimics the zero-gravity position that astronauts are in during blast off and descent, and takes the stress off the heart,” said Resilience Room Project co-founder and Chaplain Christa Trinchera.

“Once you get in zero-gravity there is this instant relief, and you just feel weightless. The relief of the joints and back just feels natural,” added Chief Deputy Jordyn Nebeker.

Through the Idaho Gives campaign held in May, the Resilience Room Project raised $1,525 to purchase an infrared sauna dome paired with a Chi Cot, and a Foot Terahertz machine.

The infrared sauna dome and the infrared heat mat help lower stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, thereby reducing stress and improve recovery time after a critical incidence.

“When those hormones are elevated you can’t sleep,” Trinchera explained. “What we see in our first responders is the infrared heat from the dome gently warms not just the body surface, but also penetrates 2 to 3 inches deep.”

“It relaxes the muscles, core like the bones,” Trinchera said. “Often when they have been out in extreme cold, and the core temperature is cold they can get warm very quickly. It also relaxes them, so that when they come home, they can actually achieve REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is really what we want,” She added.

When a first responder can achieve REM sleep, it is believed to lower incidence of post-traumatic stress injury.

“The elevated cortisol and adrenaline triggers things in the mind that they second guess their decisions; they start replaying the incidence; they start having deep, personal injury about what they just experienced or saw,” Trinchera stated. “We want to get those chemicals lowered and induce a state of relaxation.”

Some deputies have been traveling out of town to experience the equipment and reap the benefits. Having the Resilience Room located within the department means deputies, including dispatch, will have access to the dome, Chi Cot and Terahertz Machine when they most need it at the end of a day.

“Several of the last critical incedences, mainly officer-involved shootings, that we’ve had, they have been able to utilize the equipment at Ahhhsome Relaxation — it’s a business and you have to travel to get it,” said Chief Deputy Nebecker with Bingham County Sheriff Department. “The feedback we have gotten has been on the heels of some pretty severe critical incedences; they said that it went smoothly afterward and played a key role in beginning to process.”

Chief Deputy Nebecker also stated that it is important that deputies utilize the counseling that is also offered in conjunction with the resilience equipment.

The Resilience Room in the Sheriffs Department is the first of its kind in the United States, and they hope to have a ribbon-cutting on July 4 of this year.

Donations to the project can still be made through Venmo at https://www.venmo.com/u/ResilienceRoom.