First Responders Support Team (FRST)
The First Responder Support Team is a dedicated group of clinicians and First Responders who meet regularly to discuss needs, programming, and upcoming events for First Responders. The team also coordinates department training and Wellness Visits, referrals for therapy, and debriefing services after critical incidents. If you would like more information on becoming part of the team, please email Director of Behavioral Health, Leah O’Brien, at leah@firstrespondersfoundation.org.
FRST Interest Form
Behavioral Health Services (Mental Health)
FRST Clinicians provide behavioral health services to first responders and veterans:
- Trauma informed individual and family therapy (telehealth included)
- Substance use evaluations
- Workshops and training
- Support Groups
Workshops / Training
Stronger Together (workshop)
Stronger Together is a four-hour (4) workshop designed to mitigate the effects of stress and trauma upon first responders and their families. This is accomplished by helping plan post-critical incidents, post-crisis recovery, healing, and resiliency restoration.
Next Workshop: 2/3/24, Omaha, NE, 9am-12pm
Peer Support Training
Peer Support training for First Responders focuses on equipping individuals with the skills to provide emotional, psychological, and practical support to their colleagues. This training emphasizes the importance of mental health and well-being in high-stress, high-risk environments where First Responders are regularly exposed to trauma, danger, and challenging situations. The primary goal of Peer Support training is to create a network of trusted peers who can help each other cope with stress, prevent burnout, and reduce the stigma associated with seeking mental health support.
Key Components of Peer Support training:
- Understanding mental health and wellness
- Active listening skills
- Crisis management
- Stigma reduction
- Confidentiality and boundaries
- Building a supportive environment
- Self-care and resilience building
- Referral and resource knowledge
Resiliency Training
Resiliency for First Responders is designed to help individuals develop the mental, emotional, and physical skills necessary to withstand and recover from the challenges they face on the job. The goal is to help First Responders build the resilience they need to manage stress, cope with trauma, and maintain their well-being over the long term, despite the demands of their profession.
Key components of Resiliency Training:
- Understanding resilience and stress
- Stress management techniques
- Building emotional awareness and regulation
- Developing a growth mindset
- Cognitive resilience
- Building social support and team resilience
- Physical wellness and self-care
- Mindfulness and mental health awareness
- Work-life balance and boundary setting
Suicide Prevention Training
Suicide Prevention training is designed to equip First Responders with knoweledge, skills, and tools to recognize, respond to, and intervene in situations involving suicide risk, both for the public they serve and for themselves. Given the high-stress and traumatic nature of their work, First Responders are particularly vulnerable to mental health challenges including depression, PTSD, and suicide. This training aims to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and promote early intervention, ultimately fostering a culture of support and care that prioritizes the mental health of First Responders.
Key components of Suicide Prevention:
- Understanding suicide risk factors
- Recognizing warning signs of suicide
- Addressing stigma around suicide and mental health in First Responders
- Intervention strategies and crisis management
- Assessing suicide risk
- Safety plans and referrals
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Training –
The Group Crisis Intervention course will prepare participants to understand 5 different crisis intervention services. Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined, and participants will gain the knowledge and tools to provide timely group crisis interventions, specifically RITS, defusing and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). Training will include information regarding the need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary. This course offers core knowledge for anyone involved in Peer Support and crisis intervention. This is an ICISF (International Critical Incident Stress Foundation) certified 2-day training. Certificate provided upon completion of the training.
Support Groups
Peer Support Group – First Thursday of the month at 8am via Zoom
Meetings are open to all first responders in the community. Trained peers lead these supportive, confidential meetings. The trained peers are committed to helping colleagues manage the stress of the job in a healthy way and to supporting others in stress management. Clinicians are consulted as needed to support group needs. This support group meets once a month and is typically one (1) to one and a half (1.5) hours in length.
Spouse Support Group – Last Wednesday of the month at 7pm via Zoom.
A clinician-led group open to spouses and adult family members of first responders. Individuals can attend a group whenever support is needed. The support group meets once a month for one (1) hour.
Substance Use Support Group – Schedule TBD
This group is for those who strive to maintain their sobriety and can use additional support from a safe and understanding group.
Medical Support Group – Schedule TBD
This support group is clinician-led with the target audience being medical providers dealing with trauma on a daily basis. This support group is for the trauma teams, trauma transport, and medivac teams. The group focuses on managing one’s self in the midst of crisis, recovery from daily shift work, critical incidences and continued self-care to mitigate the effects of long term crisis engagement.
Seeking Safety: Connecting First Responders, Doctors, and Nurses in a Circle of Strength and Support
Seeking Safety is a psycho-educational support group that empowers, strengthens and assists men and women in healthcare/ first responder and civil service careers and as a result may have developed or struggle with PTSD and / or managed by using unsafe coping mechanisms.
STARTING JANUARY 10th! Group meets each Wednesday at 6:30pm at the First Responders Foundation Health and Wellness Center Classroom: 10605 Burt Cir, Omaha NE
For more information and/or to sign up, contact Nicole Gurnon: stonesofhope11024@gmail.com
Meet The Support Team
Leah O’Brien, LIMHP, CPC, LADC
Director of Behavioral Health
Leslie Hartmann, LMHP
Clinician – First Responder Support Team
Leslie is a Licensed Mental Health Practitioner and specializes in working with spouses and children of first responders. She has more than eight years of experience working with families, as well as children and adolescents with behavioral and social challenges. Leslie’s experience also includes working in the correctional setting, dealing with inmates and corrections staff. As part of the FRST Team, Leslie facilitates a weekly substance support group. Leslie is married to a retired U.S. Marine who also was an emergency medical technician (EMT). She is available for both in-person and Telehealth sessions throughout Nebraska.
Behavioral Health services are available to ALL First Responders (paid and non-paid) and their families.
All services are confidential.
If you would like more information on becoming part of the team, please email Director of Behavioral Health, Leah O’Brien, at leah@firstrespondersfoundation.org.
