First Responder Peer Support Training

Route 9 Library & Innovation Center - 3022 New Castle Ave, New Castle, DE 19720

September 20-22, 2022 - 8 am - 4 pm

Instructed by: Harold Bozeman and Dennis Carradin

The goal of peer support is to provide first responders the opportunity to receive emotional and practical support through times of personal or professional crisis. Peer support attempts to anticipate and address potential difficulties during a first responder’s career. This training will help the first responder understand the needs of a peer in crisis and provide the emotional support necessary to mitigate and/or alleviate stress of the daily rigors of the job or during a critical incident. This training will provide the first responder the necessary skills to identify problem areas, provide support and advice, and make necessary referrals to a higher level of care.

The three-day course will cover each of the following topics:

• Interpersonal Communication Skills

• Developing the helper personality

• Shrinkology 101

• Active Listening and Response

• Ethics and the Law

• De-escalation strategies

• Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships

• Substance Abuse

• Common Psychological Disorders

• Psychotropic medications

• Anxiety/Depression

• Critical Incident Stress

• Post-traumatic stress disorder

• Emergency Responder Exhaustion Syndrome

• Grief and Bereavement

• Suicide Prevention, Intervention, Postvention

• Stress Management

• Making referrals to next level care

• Developing a network for care management

• How to Develop a Peer Support Program in your department

The cost is $240 /person for the three-day course.

The class is limited to 50 attendees.

Lunch and light refreshments will be served both days.

Critical Incident Response Strategies will donate 10% of the proceeds from this seminar to the Trauma Survivors Foundation Scholarship Funds.