Providing Behavioral Health Training for First Responders
by Mel Bearns
The University of Washington’s School of Social Work recently held training for firefighters and emergency medical services staff from nine fire departments across the state. The Behavioral Health Crisis Outreach Response and Education (BHCore) is a new center envisioned to fill a void in mental health and substance abuse call preparedness for frontline responders.
As mental health and substance abuse calls have become a larger portion of the work done by fire departments, first responders are faced with increased responsibilities – often outside of the scope of their training. This need is leading more and more cities throughout Washington and other states to develop alternative response programs that send mental health professionals to respond to crises involving mental health crises in tandem with or instead of first responders. However, these programs tend to be much smaller and aren’t always available on a 24/7 basis. This shortfall leads to traditional first responders being the only option when substance abuse and mental health calls come in.
Creating the Program
Jennifer Stuber is the Executive Director of BHCore, and she explained what is at the heart of the program. “It’s really important that we prepare them to do the work and that they feel good about it because otherwise, they don’t feel like they can handle the call,” she said. “That’s going to also lead to their sense of burnout and compassion fatigue.”
With funding support from the state of Washington Legislature, and managed by the state’s Health Care Authority, the center was launched in 2024. Nine fire departments received grants last year to assist them with developing crisis response teams and the effective administration of medications for opioid overdose and use disorders.
South County Fire & Rescue assistant chief Shaughn Maxwell said: “We’re really set up for everything else we do - heart attacks, car accidents and rescues. This is filling a need and is now equipping us for mental health.”
Launching the First Training
The first BHCore training was given to more than 50 firefighters and EMS personnel. Attendees were asked to answer the question – “Is anyone wearing any ‘SAD HATS?’” The acronym stands for ‘sick, alcohol, drugs, hungry, anxious, tired, stressed’ and it was conceived to help first responders identify and evaluate the factors that could affect them when responding to a crisis.
As attendees examined these factors, they also discussed the types of calls that could trigger emotional responses, sometime based on past experiences. As the training progressed, they focused on skills when responding to crisis such as evaluating a scene, medical assessment, active, listening and making connections with community resources.
Making a Difference
It has long been known that this line of work often takes a toll on the mental health of first responders. But not until recently has there been a concerted push to provide help and tools to assist firefighters and EMS personnel and protect their mental health and well-being. This has left a void that leads to higher suicide risks when compared to the general population, as research has shown. Direct experiences such as severe auto accidents and fires can lead to acute post-traumatic injuries and disorders among frontline responders. However, mental health and substance abuse crisis calls can result in a toll on the health of first responders.
“Often they don’t get the support they need to really process through those events, and they have a cumulative toll,” Stuber said. “Despite the fact that people come into this work to help people, they often get so overwhelmed with the amount of negative and traumatic experiences. If they don’t know how to cope with them or prepare for them, then it just gets increasingly harder and harder.”
In addition to providing skills training for frontline workers and others who intervene in behavioral health crises, BHCore also offers a training academy, suicide prevention and behavioral health education, and an annual conference that brings first responders together.
For More Information
Behavioral Health Crisis Outreach Response and Education, https://bhcore.org/
Journal of Safety Research, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022437523000415
