Firefighter Peer Support
Firefighters have supported one another since the inception of fire protection services. In the early years, when firefighters experienced emotional difficulties or troubling stressors, whether or not they were work related, they could always rely on each other. This tradition, previously known as the firefighter brotherhood, continues today. In the modern firefighting service, the brotherhood tradition has grown into the idea of a firefighter family and now includes men and women firefighters.
The firefighter family has been a strong psychological supportive resource for individual firefighters and remains so today. In addition, firefighters now have several alternatives for assistance when dealing with emotional and psychological difficulties. In several contemporary fire departments one of these alternatives is working with the department’s peer support team.
Fire department peer support teams have demonstrated their effectiveness for several years. In fire departments that have developed a peer support team, the team has become an integral part of the organization.
Some fire chiefs do not recognize the need for peer support teams. This is likely due to the fact that most department employees (1) have access to a jurisdiction-wide employee assistance program (EAP) and (2) most department health insurance benefit plans include a provision for psychological counseling.
The availability of EAP and health plan psychological counseling for fire department personnel represents a significant advancement in the delivery of counseling services. However for firefighters, EAPs and health plan counseling, although helpful, appear insufficient. They are helpful in that they are utilized by some firefighters who might not otherwise seek assistance. They are insufficient in that despite their availability, they do not and cannot meet the needs of many firefighters.
Peer support teams occupy a niche that cannot be readily filled by either an EAP or health plan providers. If a fire department wants to do the best it can to support its personnel, a peer support team is necessary.
If you are reading this as a member of a fire department peer support team, your department has recognized the efficacy of peer support. This means that your department has endorsed the principles of peer support and has willingly committed resources to make peer support available. As a peer support team member, you recognize this commitment and have assumed the responsibility to function within the parameters of your department’s peer support team policy,
operational guidelines, and training.
If you are reading this and your department does not have a peer support team, I encourage you to initiate a discussion about developing one. With appropriate member selection, training, and ongoing clinical advisement or supervision, a peer support team can become an invaluable asset to any fire department.
The firefighter family has been a strong psychological supportive resource for individual firefighters and remains so today. In addition, firefighters now have several alternatives for assistance when dealing with emotional and psychological difficulties. In several contemporary fire departments one of these alternatives is working with the department’s peer support team.
Fire department peer support teams have demonstrated their effectiveness for several years. In fire departments that have developed a peer support team, the team has become an integral part of the organization.
Some fire chiefs do not recognize the need for peer support teams. This is likely due to the fact that most department employees (1) have access to a jurisdiction-wide employee assistance program (EAP) and (2) most department health insurance benefit plans include a provision for psychological counseling.
The availability of EAP and health plan psychological counseling for fire department personnel represents a significant advancement in the delivery of counseling services. However for firefighters, EAPs and health plan counseling, although helpful, appear insufficient. They are helpful in that they are utilized by some firefighters who might not otherwise seek assistance. They are insufficient in that despite their availability, they do not and cannot meet the needs of many firefighters.
Peer support teams occupy a niche that cannot be readily filled by either an EAP or health plan providers. If a fire department wants to do the best it can to support its personnel, a peer support team is necessary.
If you are reading this as a member of a fire department peer support team, your department has recognized the efficacy of peer support. This means that your department has endorsed the principles of peer support and has willingly committed resources to make peer support available. As a peer support team member, you recognize this commitment and have assumed the responsibility to function within the parameters of your department’s peer support team policy,
operational guidelines, and training.
If you are reading this and your department does not have a peer support team, I encourage you to initiate a discussion about developing one. With appropriate member selection, training, and ongoing clinical advisement or supervision, a peer support team can become an invaluable asset to any fire department.
The "Make it Safe" Firefighter Initiative (adapted from the "Make it Safe" Police Officer Initiative)
Click to download FF Initiative
The Make it Safe Firefighter Initiative seeks to:
(1) make it personally and professionally acceptable for firefighters to engage peer and professional psychological support services without fear of agency or peer ridicule or reprisal.
(2) reduce firefighter fears about asking for psychological support when confronting potentially overwhelming job or other life difficulties.
(3) change organizational climates that discourage firefighters from seeking psychological help by reducing explicit and implicit organizational messages that imply asking for help is indicative of personal and professional weakness.
(4) alter the profession-wide firefighting culture that generally views asking for psychological help as a personal or professional weakness.
(5) improve the career-long psychological wellness of firefighters by encouraging fire departments to adopt long-term and comprehensive firefighter-support strategies such as the Comprehensive Model for Peer Advanced Strategic Support.
Twelve elements of the Make it Safe Firefighter Initiative
The Initiative encourages:
(1) every firefighter to "self-monitor" and to take personal responsibility for their mental wellness.
(2) every firefighter to seek psychological support when confronting potentially overwhelming difficulties (firefighters do not have to "go it alone").
(3) every firefighter to diminish the sometimes deadly effects of secondary danger by reaching out to other firefighters known to be facing difficult circumstances.
(4) veteran and ranking firefighters to use their status to help reduce secondary danger (veteran and ranking firefighters can reduce secondary danger by openly discussing it, appropriately sharing selected personal experiences, avoiding the use of pejorative terms to describe firefighters seeking or engaging psychological support, and talking about the acceptability of seeking psychological support when confronting stressful circumstances).
(5) fire department administrators to better educate themselves about the nature of secondary danger and to take the lead in secondary danger reduction.
(6) fire department administrators to issue a departmental memo encouraging firefighters to engage psychological support services when confronting potentially overwhelming stress (the memo should include information about confidentiality and available support resources).
(7) basic training in stress management, stress inoculation, critical incidents, posttraumatic stress, fire family dynamics, substance use and addiction, and the warning signs of depression and suicide.
(8) the development of programs that engage pre-emptive, early-warning, and periodic department-wide firefighter support interventions (for example, proactive annual check in, “early warning” policies designed to support firefighters displaying signs of stress, and regularly scheduled stress inoculation and critical incident stressor management training).
(9) fire departments to initiate incident-specific protocols to support firefighters and their families when firefighters are involved in critical incidents.
(10) fire departments to create appropriately structured, properly trained, and clinically supervised peer support teams.
(11) fire departments to provide easy and confidential access to counseling and specialized psychological support services.
(12) firefighters at all levels of the organization to enhance the agency climate so that others are encouraged to ask for help when experiencing psychological or emotional difficulties instead of keeping and acting out a deadly secret.
(1) make it personally and professionally acceptable for firefighters to engage peer and professional psychological support services without fear of agency or peer ridicule or reprisal.
(2) reduce firefighter fears about asking for psychological support when confronting potentially overwhelming job or other life difficulties.
(3) change organizational climates that discourage firefighters from seeking psychological help by reducing explicit and implicit organizational messages that imply asking for help is indicative of personal and professional weakness.
(4) alter the profession-wide firefighting culture that generally views asking for psychological help as a personal or professional weakness.
(5) improve the career-long psychological wellness of firefighters by encouraging fire departments to adopt long-term and comprehensive firefighter-support strategies such as the Comprehensive Model for Peer Advanced Strategic Support.
Twelve elements of the Make it Safe Firefighter Initiative
The Initiative encourages:
(1) every firefighter to "self-monitor" and to take personal responsibility for their mental wellness.
(2) every firefighter to seek psychological support when confronting potentially overwhelming difficulties (firefighters do not have to "go it alone").
(3) every firefighter to diminish the sometimes deadly effects of secondary danger by reaching out to other firefighters known to be facing difficult circumstances.
(4) veteran and ranking firefighters to use their status to help reduce secondary danger (veteran and ranking firefighters can reduce secondary danger by openly discussing it, appropriately sharing selected personal experiences, avoiding the use of pejorative terms to describe firefighters seeking or engaging psychological support, and talking about the acceptability of seeking psychological support when confronting stressful circumstances).
(5) fire department administrators to better educate themselves about the nature of secondary danger and to take the lead in secondary danger reduction.
(6) fire department administrators to issue a departmental memo encouraging firefighters to engage psychological support services when confronting potentially overwhelming stress (the memo should include information about confidentiality and available support resources).
(7) basic training in stress management, stress inoculation, critical incidents, posttraumatic stress, fire family dynamics, substance use and addiction, and the warning signs of depression and suicide.
(8) the development of programs that engage pre-emptive, early-warning, and periodic department-wide firefighter support interventions (for example, proactive annual check in, “early warning” policies designed to support firefighters displaying signs of stress, and regularly scheduled stress inoculation and critical incident stressor management training).
(9) fire departments to initiate incident-specific protocols to support firefighters and their families when firefighters are involved in critical incidents.
(10) fire departments to create appropriately structured, properly trained, and clinically supervised peer support teams.
(11) fire departments to provide easy and confidential access to counseling and specialized psychological support services.
(12) firefighters at all levels of the organization to enhance the agency climate so that others are encouraged to ask for help when experiencing psychological or emotional difficulties instead of keeping and acting out a deadly secret.
The "Make it Safe" Firefighter Initiative: Powerpoint and Video Presentations
For a narrated video of the "Make it Safe" Firefighter Initiative or to view the Qual-eFire "Quality for Life" Support Officer video produced by Peter McMahon of Aviation Rescue Services Pty Ltd, Victoria, Australia, search "Digliani" on www.YouTube.com.
Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual
Click to download Edition 6.5
The Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual is a reference and resource manual written for members of fire department peer support teams. It includes the Comprehensive Model for Peer Advanced Strategic Support (COMPASS), the Peer Support Team Code of Ethical Conduct, and Peer Support Team Training: Key Points and Training Objectives. The Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual is also useful for training firefighters that are not part of a fire department peer support team. The Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual is an extrapolation and modification of the Law Enforcement Peer Support Team Manual. Click on the Manual icon at left to download the latest edition of the Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual.
Firefighter Support Information
The Firefighter Support Information document is designed for firefighters that have experienced a critical incident. It consists of several relevant sections of the Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual. Sections of the Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual that are relevant only to peer support team members are excluded.
Firefighter Support Information
The Firefighter Support Information document is designed for firefighters that have experienced a critical incident. It consists of several relevant sections of the Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual. Sections of the Firefighter Peer Support Team Manual that are relevant only to peer support team members are excluded.
EMS Peer Support Team Manual
Click to download Edition 3.5
Emergency Medical Services Peer Support Team Manual
The EMS Peer Support Team Manual is a reference and referral resource for EMS peer support teams. The Manual may also be used as a training program resource for EMS and other medical personnel.
The EMS Peer Support Team Manual is an extrapolation and modification of the Law Enforcement Peer Support Team Manual. "Make it Safe" EMS Initiative" information is available in the EMS Peer Support Team Manual.
The EMS Peer Support Team Manual is a reference and referral resource for EMS peer support teams. The Manual may also be used as a training program resource for EMS and other medical personnel.
The EMS Peer Support Team Manual is an extrapolation and modification of the Law Enforcement Peer Support Team Manual. "Make it Safe" EMS Initiative" information is available in the EMS Peer Support Team Manual.
Fire, EMS, & Dispatch PAC Poster
Proactive Annual Check-in
The Proactive Annual Check-in (PAC) provides firefighters, EMS, and dispatch personnel with a confidential setting within which to share information about current life circumstances. It is a proactive program designed to offer a positive exchange of thoughts, ideas, and information.
Elements of the Firefighter, EMS, and Dispatch Proactive Annual Check-In:
(1) Annual visit with the department psychologist, a member of the Peer Support Team, or other available support resource
(2) Confidential meeting that does not initiate any record
(3) No evaluation - It’s a check-in, not a check-up
(4) There does not need to be a problem
(5) It’s a discussion of what’s happening in your life
(6) Participation is voluntary* and encouraged
*In an effort to enhance employee wellness, some departments offer incentives to attend PAC meetings or have made PAC meetings mandatory.
Fire departments, emergency medical service organizations, and dispatch centers can readily implement the Proactive Annual Check-in program by utilizing currently available support resources.
Disseminate Firefighter, EMS, and Dispatch PAC program information by downloading, printing, and displaying the PAC poster,
available by clicking on the "PAC Poster" icon.
The Proactive Annual Check-in (PAC) provides firefighters, EMS, and dispatch personnel with a confidential setting within which to share information about current life circumstances. It is a proactive program designed to offer a positive exchange of thoughts, ideas, and information.
Elements of the Firefighter, EMS, and Dispatch Proactive Annual Check-In:
(1) Annual visit with the department psychologist, a member of the Peer Support Team, or other available support resource
(2) Confidential meeting that does not initiate any record
(3) No evaluation - It’s a check-in, not a check-up
(4) There does not need to be a problem
(5) It’s a discussion of what’s happening in your life
(6) Participation is voluntary* and encouraged
*In an effort to enhance employee wellness, some departments offer incentives to attend PAC meetings or have made PAC meetings mandatory.
Fire departments, emergency medical service organizations, and dispatch centers can readily implement the Proactive Annual Check-in program by utilizing currently available support resources.
Disseminate Firefighter, EMS, and Dispatch PAC program information by downloading, printing, and displaying the PAC poster,
available by clicking on the "PAC Poster" icon.
Emergency Services Dispatch Support Information
Emergency Services Dispatch Support Information: Reference and Resource Handbook
Click to download the Dispatch Support Information Handbook
Emergency services call takers and dispatchers (CT&D) are a vital part of the first-responder family. As a first-responder, CT&Ds confront many of the same stressors as those they dispatch. However, call takers and dispatchers also confront stressors unique to working in dispatch.
"Make it Safe" - The 12 Elements of the Make it Safe Initiative are included in the Handbook..
Click on the CT&D icon to view and download the Emergency Services Dispatch Support Information Handbook.
"Make it Safe" - The 12 Elements of the Make it Safe Initiative are included in the Handbook..
Click on the CT&D icon to view and download the Emergency Services Dispatch Support Information Handbook.