For decades, Christy Warren prided herself on being a top-notch firefighter and keeping a handle on what she called “the ribbon,” that almost delicious flash of adrenaline that whipped through her every time she headed out on a call. When dousing fires and rescuing people, she was competence in action. Often a lifesaver. She mattered, and nothing from her abusive childhood could diminish her as she stepped up, often at great personal risk, to help others. With her uniform on, her identity was secure; her skills, indisputable.
Until Christy lost control of that ribbon of adrenaline, and disturbing memories from her twenty-five years of calls blew out of the box in which she’d shoved them in her mind.
Until nerves and nightmares made it impossible for her to face another call without fear ripping through her.
Until someone said the one thing she did not want to hear: PTSD. PTSD meant she was not in control, not a success. The diagnosis made this valued and committed fire captain believe she was weak and as worthless as her childhood had made her feel. Lost without her firefighting identity, with her personal and professional relationships fraying like her nerves, and wrapped in a loop of terrible memories, Christy even contemplated suicide.
She finally asked for help.
On the journey that followed, Christy learned vital truths that made it possible for her to keep going even in her darkest moments—that post-traumatic stress is considered a brain injury; that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness; and that although it was ultimately up to her to do the work to change the dialogue in her mind, she was not alone in either her trauma or in her efforts to cope. Flash Point is unforgettable; it’s root-level honest, heartbreaking, and yet ultimately hopeful.
CHRISTY WARREN is a retired fire captain from the Berkeley Fire Department in California. She has twenty-five years of service as a professional paramedic and eighteen years as a professional firefighter/paramedic. After being diagnosed with PTSD in 2014, she retired from the fire service; since then, she has become a triathlete, completed the Escape from Alcatraz swim five times, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Washington State University. She is a volunteer Peer at the West Coast Post-trauma Retreat and hosts the podcast The Firefighter Deconstructed. She lives in Pleasant Hill with her wife, Lisa, and dog, Harriet. Find her online at christyewarren.com.
RE: FLASH POINT: A FIREFIGHTER'S JOURNEY THROUGH PTSD By Christy Warren
Pub. date: June 20, 2023
Memoir; ISBN 978-1-64742-448-0; 288 pages; Paperback; 5.5 x 8.5 ”; $17.95
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-64742-449-7, $9.95
For more information, please contact:
Caitlin Hamilton Summie, President
Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity, LLC
Phone: 303-725-2613
