An increasing body of research provides evidence of the enormity of the behavioral health issues experienced by members of the fire service regardless of role. Although not every firefighter experiences the job and life stressors in the same way, everyone at some point will be overwhelmed, and support and access to help will make the difference between a long healthy career or a worst-case scenario, suicide. This class provides an overview of what “help” looks like for the individual and for the department: how the attendees can develop solutions to fit their needs and the needs of their department to ensure a long and healthy career. It pulls together the growing body of information on behavioral health to provide the framework for building a more formal and comprehensive behavioral health program that supports prevention and intervention strategies, defines and describes key components of the program, and provides resources to guide and support the program’s development. This class provides a blueprint and materials list of what is necessary to develop the solutions for which attendees have been asking.
