Amanda Frank’s family is full of health-care workers, including her sister, who is a paramedic. Seeing her loved ones struggle with stress and tension made the Massage Therapy student excited to provide assistance at her program’s annual free massage clinic for first responders on December 5.

“I've seen the toll the work they do takes, not only on their bodies, but also emotionally and mentally,” she says. “They're constantly working in that fight-or-flight state.” 

Frank says that the clinic will be a great learning opportunity for her when it comes to addressing the unique needs first responders have and ensuring her bedside manner is effective in earning patient trust. She looks forward to providing some much-needed relief for the first responders in attendance and hopes that they will remember to put themselves first from time to time going forward.

“If this pushes them to prioritize themselves, that would make me feel better than anything,” says Frank. “Just to know they took that 60 minutes, even if it was the first time in months, they at least took the time to do something for themselves.”

Frank is well aware of how beneficial massage can be. Her journey to the program began when she was a high-school athlete. She regularly saw an athletic therapist, but relied on his expertise even more when she tore her rotator cuff. He showed her techniques to ease her pain and speed up recovery, and she found herself wanting to help others in the same way.