Safety Forces Support Center

Counseling & crisis intervention - law enforcement, fire personnel, ems and communications professionals experience intense, unique job stressors, which impact their physical, mental, and emotional health and which require specialized Support. These well-documented, ongoing stressors result in a high level of divorce, alcoholism, depression, anxiety, ptsd and suicide. In 2023 the Safety Forces Support Center (sfsc) provided free critical incident stress debriefing to 55 individuals in 7 interventions for events such as fire fatalities, police use of force, child death, officer suicide, etc. They also provided 859 confidential mental health counseling hours to 106 active/retired Safety Forces personnel.

Chaplaincy & holiday outreach - in 2023, sfsc also served 1,928 incividuals with chaplaincy services (performing & attending funerals; outreach to retirees; hospital visitations). In december, 229 gift baskets were delivered to retired and disabled Safety Forces personnel, widows, or those experiencing life challenges, and approximately 500 meals were served on christmas eve to first responders serving on duty and away from family and loved ones.

Training & peer Support - sfsc coordinates a team of trained peer Support members who provide mental health "first aid" for their colleagues. This volunteer group is trained in critical incident stress management (cism) to recognize the signs of distress in peers, respond appropriately, and if necessary, refer that colleague for follow up mental health intervention. In 2023, sfsc grew their peer Support team to 148 members, providing training to 85 new team members in group crisis intervention. In addition, 181 first responders received continuing education in one-on-one peer Support skills.