When filmmaker Conrad Weaver was working on a documentary about the opioid crisis, he went on a ride-along with first responders. One of the calls was for a fatal overdose.

“That’s not something that I’m familiar with or at all comfortable with seeing,” Weaver said. “And that got me thinking about trauma and how first responders are faced with it every day and how it impacts them.”

Weaver spent the next three years talking to first responders about post-traumatic stress and creating his documentary, “PTSD911.”

“This film tells the story of three people — a firefighter, a police officer and a dispatcher. and their journey of where it took them, their experiences, the traumas they faced and the stressors of the job and all the things they faced in their work and how it impacted their lives,” Weaver said.

The Oxford Police Department and Pinelake Church are presenting the film to the public at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 at Pinelake Church on Pat Patterson Parkway.

Donations will be collected at the door and all proceeds will help first responders in Mississippi.

Weaver said the film is important for all law enforcement officers and first responders to see, but also community leaders and the general public.
“I really encourage the general public to attend simply because most people don’t realize how trauma affects our first responders, and that a majority of first responders are deeply impacted by the things that they experienced,” he said.

The film premiered in the fall of 2022 and has since been shown at more than 35 public screenings across the country.

“It’s a conversation starter, to get first responders talking about mental health and those issues, which is something that historically, as has always been kind of on the back burner,” Weaver said. “And so, this, this film is helping to start those conversations around the country.”

For more information, or to get tickets online, visit https://ptsd911movie.com.