Danny Ricker is the spiritual responder for the first responders. As such Danny has spent 13 of his 55 years as a chaplain with the Tennessee Highway Patrol which eventually lead to expending his services to Greeneville Police Department, Greeneville Fire Department, Greene County EMS, Greene County Sheriff Department, Greene County 911, Emergency Management Agency and support to the Greene County Volunteer Fire Departments.
This volunteer career path started with a request from the THP asking for assistance with death notifications. His early work with THP set him on a path of providing spiritual and emotional support to the officers which eventually turned the notification position into an officer support program and statewide training program for THP Chaplains.
Feeling the desire to do more, Danny started the Emergency Chaplains in 2014 which is comprised of a group of chaplains able to respond 24 hours a day in support of emergency responders as well as victims of any emergency. Danny is quick to point out how proud and humbled he is of the men and women who make up the Emergency Chaplains program.
When asked why he does all of this in addition to his full-time job Danny simply states, “It’s what the Lord called him to do”. He points out that Jesus was the first, First Responder and he is blessed to be of service to what he calls “his first responders”.
To serve “his” responders, Danny is paged out to all structure fires and is often on the scene of large motor vehicle accidents and search and rescue operations. His goal is to provide moral and spiritual support to the responders before, during and after the incidents. As he pointed out there were more suicides in 2016, 17 and 18 than the line of duty deaths which he and other chaplains work to reduce with Mental Health Strike Teams who are specially trained in debriefing techniques to combat PTSD.
The past 13 years has taken a lot of work, which at times Danny wishes he would have started earlier and yet slowed down more to talk with more people along the way. Forming credible relationships is critical in his work as “you can’t touch anyone for Jesus unless you are real”. At the end of the day, he just wants to be able to put his arm around a responder, tell them he loves them, and that they know that is real.