Honoring Our Front-Line Heroes
This fall, the Scottish Rite, NMJ is honoring our first responders. Our Brothers who serve and save others truly exemplify our core value of Service to Humanity. From the September 11 attacks to the COVID-19 global pandemic, first responders have always been the front-line heroes of our communities.
Meet Brother Craig Rush, 32°: U.S. Army Medic and Emergency Psychiatrist
Discover more stories like Craig’s when you request a member of our First Responders Speakers Bureau to present at one of your Masonic events.
Today, we’re sharing the story of Brother Craig Rush from the Valley of Erie. Craig was originally a U.S. Army Medic from 1984 to 1996. During peacetime, he worked on an ambulance crew in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where he tended to motor vehicle accidents and provided medical support to wildfire base stations.
After his time in the army, he graduated medical school and completed a one-year traditional medical internship and a three-year residency in the specialty of psychiatry. As an emergency psychiatrist, he responds to many different kinds of crises. He has tens of thousands of hours of experience managing psychiatric emergencies in the ER, inpatient units and, more recently, seeing psychiatric urgent cases on consult in COVID units.
Brother Rush working as an emergency psychiatrist during the COVID-19 pandemic
A recent career change has led Craig to corrections psychiatry work at a state prison. There, he manages psychiatric crises and regularly sees inmates in their cells during quarantine, while continuing to do hospital psychiatric work on the weekends.
When he’s not serving patients, Craig stays involved in the community by acting as a mentor and teacher to local psychiatric medical residents. In addition, he teaches mental health crisis management to first responders in a wide variety of fields.
First Responders Speakers Bureau
We have many first responders among our Scottish Rite brethren. Learn more about these brave men of courage and service in our series of profiles we will feature this fall. In fact, a First Responders Speakers Bureau has been established, and our Brothers profiled here are just a few who are available by request to present at your local event.
Visit the Leadership Resource Center where you can download the Speakers Bureau Directory which lists the available speakers in your state.