This webinar will highlight the experiences, efforts, and needs of first responder agencies relative to exposure to traumatic stressors specific to the opioid crisis.
Using information gathered from interviews with mid- to high-level supervisors from several local law enforcement agencies, as well as fire department and emergency medical services staff, speakers will discuss insights into the awareness of this work’s impact on first responders, the measures agencies have taken to minimize negative effects on staff, and products or tools needed to advance these efforts.
Addressing that first responder trauma tends to be cumulative with multiple exposures to impactful incidents over time, the rise of the opioid epidemic, with its increased demands on first responders, compounds the level of job-related stress and trauma that individuals and organizations experience.
First responders are essential to the nation’s response to the pandemic, which is adding another source of potentially traumatizing exposures. This underscores the vital importance of ensuring that first responders have the information and support they need to continue to serve their communities and the nation. Of note, this webinar presents information gathered before the increased use of stimulants and other drugs and the outbreak of COVID-19.