Bank of America volunteer honored for work with Trauma Intervention Program

Henderson resident Cameron Cheal remembers his first night as a volunteer for the Trauma Intervention Program, which equips everyday people to provide support to victims in the aftermath of tragedy.

"A teenager had killed himself, and I was there to provide support to the parents," Cheal said. "It was a variety of emotions. Nobody grieves the same way."

Whether it is to be a mediator between the family and the emergency responders or simply just to sit quietly as the parent sobs, Cheal was trained to be there in whatever capacity he was needed.

"As I was driving there, I had to focus," he said. "When I arrived, all that apprehension fell away. I cleared my mind. I was there for them and not for me."

Since that first night almost two years ago, Cheal has accumulated about 100 hours a month either in the field with the victims or dispatching other volunteers to assist in responses.

Because of his service, Cheal was named Volunteer of the Year by Bank of America, his employer. The accomplishment also came with a $1,000 check to go to a charity of Cheal's picking.

"And of course I picked TIP," he said.

Cheal began working at Bank of America seven years ago. To his surprise, management encouraged employees to volunteer on the side.

"It feels good to be an employee in that environment," he said.

Cheal said locally, Bank of America has a goal of having employees volunteer more than 5,000 hours a year.

"And we go beyond that goal," he said.

His branch had a goal of 10 hours together, which Cheal said it met with ease.

Steve McCracken, senior vice president for Bank of America, said volunteering is part of the company's focus.

"One unique part of Bank of America's volunteerism program is that all employees may receive two hours paid per week to volunteer," McCracken said. Not only does it improve employee satisfaction, we are helping make Las Vegas a better place to raise a family."

Two years ago, a friend told him about the Trauma Intervention Program of Southern Nevada Inc., a program founded in Clark County in 1994 that is composed of citizen volunteers trained to be a support system for people during emergency situations.

"He said, 'I think you'd be good at it,' " Cheal said. "I wasn't really sure what to expect."

He attended a 55-hour training class over two weeks learning about the program and becoming equipped with handling emergency scene situations.

"They teach us emotional first aid skills," he said.

Cheal added that the course was a lot of role playing and hypothetical situations followed by in-depth reading about emergency situations.

Volunteers are taught to deal with victims and their families during homicides, suicides, fires, sexual assaults, traffic fatalities, home invasions and search and rescue operations. They are on call 24/7.

When his training was completed, Cheal was on call for 24 hours his first shift.

"I went on four calls my first shift," he recalled.

Cheal saw the need for the program and for the support system it provided.

"They will always need some sort of support," he said. "And you simply can't just meet them halfway. They are unable to put the first foot forward. You have to focus on how best to assist them."

He has been volunteering since then on a range of emotionally trying cases, such as a Christmas morning responding to the death of a child.

"The parents went to wake the child up and they were dead," he said. "How do you deal with that?"

Driving to and from scenes, Cheal said he often lets music wash over him.

"It helps me not to perseverate on a certain fact of that scene or anticipate any preconceived idea," he said.

Often times after, Cheal said he will call his mom just to say, "I love you."

Even when transferring to the Bank of America call center, where he works as a customer sales and service specialist, he was able to work his volunteer hours into his schedule.

"I usually start my shift (with TIP) at 7 p.m. Thursday after work," he said. "I go until 7 a.m. then use Friday to sleep, run errands or be with my wife. Then I am on call again from 7 p.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Saturday."

He does this all but one weekend a month.

"I need one weekend for me," he said.

Cheal was excited to present the program with this check.

"They were ecstatic to receive it," he said.

For more information, visit tipoflasvegas.org or call 702-229-0426.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.