Public safety work in today’s world brings social and cultural challenges not encountered in years past, and effective wellness services are essential for preserving your greatest resources, your personnel. FLOW was created by a first responder to fill the gaps in existing first responder services. The supports of yesteryear have proven inadequate for today’s stressors, and the price for these shortcomings has been paid in problems with employee retention, job satisfaction, family stressors, and increased rates of suicidality.
PROTECTING YOUR GREATEST RESOURCE
Public safety agencies lose valuable personnel each year to burnout, turnover, and the impact of cumulative stress. These financial losses can reach tens of thousands of dollars per lost employee when factoring in the costs of training, equipment, and other benefits. The cost of participation in our FLOW program is quickly offset if just one officer is retained as part of a healthier workforce.
Research has demonstrated that resilient first responders are more likely to be physically and mentally healthier, have overall lower recovery expenses and service needs, miss fewer days of work, get back to routines more quickly after a critical incident, work through the strong emotions that come from being a first responder without relying on unhealthy coping strategies (e.g., self-medication), and have greater job satisfaction and career longevity.
To help your organization build a more resilient and healthier workforce, FLOW differs from traditional first responder programs in the following ways:
- Interventions are proactive rather than reactive;
- Needs of the whole person are addressed, not just issues directly related to line-of-duty trauma exposure;
- Family members are directly engaged as partners in wellness;
- Peer Support Teams are created and sustained to expand access to emotional support and normalize a wellness mindset; and
- Effective education and consultation for leadership teams enables early identification and intervention.
Education and Outreach
A crucial part of changing the culture of silence among firefighters is providing leadership with information to help them identify personnel’s emotional and behavioral health struggles before they reach a critical level.
Educating on trauma and stress is key to dismantling stigma and normalizing self-care among first responders. By fostering understanding, we pave the way for a culture that encourages seeking help and prioritizing mental well-being.
Training opportunities for personnel, family members, and leadership include the following topics:
- Peer Support Team (PST) Basic Training – Prepare new PST members for compassionate, effective, trauma-informed peer interaction
- Peer Support Team (PST) Continuing Education – Offers annual supplemental training and consultation for experienced PST members
- Mentoring Basic Training – Gain expertise in bridging generational gaps, honing effective communication skills, addressing challenging situations, understanding the physiology of stress and trauma, and optimizing their mentoring toolbox with available resources.
- Size-Up 365 – Understand the continuum of stress and stress management, hone skills in identifying and responding to people in distress, and become familiar with suicide risk assessment techniques.
- Leadership Series: Trauma and Suicidality – Uncover the physiology and impact of Cumulative Trauma Exposure, Equipping Leaders to Identify and Intervene with Suicide Risk Effectively.
- Leadership Series: Ethical Critical Incident Response – Gain insights into navigating critical incidents with a focus on ethical considerations, ensuring leaders are equipped with the most current tools for effective and compassionate response.
- Leadership Series: Psychological First Aid – Stock your leadership toolkit with skills for understanding the causes of psychological crises, effective communication strategies with individuals in crisis, assessing crisis severity, and delivering impactful aid.
Training topics can also be customized to the needs of your organization.
