Mental/Behavioral Health

From the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC): Emergency responders face unique challenges that can have a significant impact on behavioral health, and it is important that they have access to providers that understand this. The providers listed in this directory are vetted behavioral health professionals that either have firsthand experience with the fire and emergency services or have completed a training course through the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance to educate them on the fire service and the specific challenges they face. In addition to licensed healthcare professionals, there are other resources for assistance such as chaplains and peer support specialists. The directory is updated once a month as new providers are added.

From the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC): The Psychologically Healthy Fire Departments: Implementation Toolkit is designed to help fire department leaders promote and foster well-being among their members. Having a healthy and engaged workforce creates successful, high-performing departments. The toolkit covers the six key categories of member involvement, health and safety, member growth and development, work-life balance, member recognition, and effective communication. Each category is examined along with specific actions that can be taken, special issues to consider, case studies from successful departments, and additional resources.

The National Volunteer Fire Council's (NVFC) Share the Load™ program provides access to critical resources and information to help first responders and their families manage and overcome personal and work-related problems.

Presented February 20, 2019

Fatality Review personnel, caregivers, and workers dealing with bereaved families often express their need to know more about how to communicate with and provide services for families following an infant or child loss. This webinar will provide an overview of the types of infant and child loss, best practices for supporting families, expressions of grief, and how to recognize complicated grief reactions. The webinar will conclude with tips for processing our own feelings on grief and loss, vicarious trauma, and resources for self-care.

Webinar materials:
Archive of Webinar passcode “Support”
Slides
Resources
CHW Grief Websites
CHW Grief Books
Resiliency Toolbox
Questions and Answers

From the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Mental Health First Aid for Fire and EMS focuses on the unique experiences and needs of firefighters and EMS personnel and is a valuable resource that can make a difference in their lives, their families’ lives and the communities in which they live. Firefighters and EMS workers learn about the importance of early intervention and how, as first responders, they can intervene in the field and provide direct assistance to someone who is experiencing a mental health challenge or crisis.

Resources developed to assist EMS providers with an approach to better understand how to provide “next steps" including self-care when a child dies due to severe trauma or illness in the prehospital environment.

This presentation is part of the 2022 EMSC Day Webinar "COPE-ing with the Challenges of Pediatric Behavioral and Mental Health Emergencies". In this presentation, Dr. Nicolaus Glomb reviews pediatric behavioral health emergency (BHE) care; describes demographic characteristics and EMS usage in Alameda County, CA; examines the safety outcomes of pediatric patients directly transported to pediatric psychiatric emergency services using an EMS pediatric BHE protocol; and discusses future steps to improve pediatric BHE care.