The focus is on the components of a working peer support program and how the North Carolina Peer Support Team developed and built its resources. Learn about partnerships with other national leading peer support programs such as the International Association of Fire Fighters Peer Support, Illinois Firefighter Peer Support, and the Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative. Students are introduced to the techniques of emergency responder psychological first aid. The program is in line with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Everyone Goes Home project and the 13th Life Safety Initiative: “Firefighters and their families must have access to counseling and psychological support services.” Members of a peer support team serve as advocates for mental health and become a first line of defense for a member who may be suffering in silence. Peer supporters learn that active listening is the cornerstone of peer support and that their job is not to counsel or solve another member’s problem but to simply be there, nonjudgmentally, and know the proper resources for referral. They also learn how to help the member in need to develop and implement an action plan.
