Focus on Mental Wellbeing in May

May 3, 2022

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and now is a great time to focus on what you and your department can do to support mental wellbeing, build resiliency, and learn what resources are available for those who need help. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) offers the following resources for the fire and EMS community.

• The Directory of Behavioral Health Professionals is a listing of local providers who are equipped and ready to help firefighters, EMS providers, rescue workers, dispatchers, and their families. The directory is updated monthly as new providers are added.
• The Share the Load program features resources and tools to help emergency responders and departments address behavioral health and wellbeing.
• The Psychologically Healthy Fire Departments: Implementation Toolkit helps fire department leaders promote and foster wellbeing among their members and create successful, high-performing departments. A supplemental training is also available in the NVFC Virtual Classroom and is being offered free for a limited time.
• Attend the live discussion on “Traumatic Events: Building Resiliency and Support Systems in the Emergency Services,” taking place May 18 at 2pm ET on Facebook and Zoom.
• The course For Those Who Love a First Responder helps families of firefighters and EMS providers understand the mental health impacts of the job and be better equipped to support their loved one. This course is currently being offered for free thanks to support from the Anheuser-Busch Foundation.
• The NVFC Virtual Classroom contains courses and webinars you can provide in your department to train members on important behavioral health issues. All courses are free for NVFC members, and webinars are free for everyone.
  • Preventing and Coping with Suicide in the Fire and Emergency Services (course)
  • Behavioral Health for the Fire Service (course)
  • Putting Out the Fire: Stress Resilience Strategies (course)
  • Stress and Life Management – Finding Your Balance as a Volunteer (course)
  • Resiliency: Preparing for and Bouncing Back from Difficult Calls (webinar)
  • Strategies to Increase Behavioral Health Support for Your Fire/EMS Department (webinar)
  • It Could Never Happen Here: Suicide and the Volunteer Fire Department (webinar)
  • Reset and Recharge: Taking Care of Our Mental Health in Uncertain Times (webinar)
  • Reset and Recharge: How to Manage Stress in Uncertain Times (webinar)
• The NVFC has developed several videos that can be shared to promote behavioral health awareness in your department and help members identify warning signs to know and how to talk to a responder in need.

Check out this resource center for additional tools and resources to help address behavioral health in your department.