Domestic violence took her health and her job. Now she teaches first responders how to help

Kansas first responders are learning about trauma-informed policing, and the effect of head and neck injuries on survivors.
TOPEKA, Kansas — Paula Walters had 14 medical diagnoses and at one point took 22 different medications. She had vision, stomach and heart problems. Even walking up stairs or talking came hard.

The most common diagnosis was aggressive multiple sclerosis. But Walters, who is a paramedic, said that just didn’t seem right. She was misdiagnosed and lost her job and her driver's license because of it. It took over a decade before she was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury from a near-fatal strangulation in a domestic violence incident.

Walters, now off medication and back at work, joined Rachel Ramirez to teach Kansas first responders how to best deal with survivors of domestic violence. The one-day seminar in Emporia focused on trauma-informed policing and the effect brain injuries and strangulation have on survivors of domestic or sexual violence.