I'm worried about a loved one who is a first responder. How can I help?

Exploring NAMI’s Public Safety Professionals webpage is a great place to start. It provides information for family members and peers of public safety professionals, including how to talk with your loved one, how to offer support, and how to take care of yourself as a friend or family member. It also lists resources for confidential and professional support and other information to help first responders and their families stay well. 

You may wish to begin by having a caring conversation with your loved one about what you’ve noticed that makes you concerned about their well-being. Being a first responder can come with chronic stress, exposure to traumatic situations, and other responsibilities that impact a person’s mental health and wellness. Acknowledging this impact can be a good place to start the conversation. For example, “I noticed you’ve been working a lot of long shifts lately, and you’ve had some trouble sleeping. I know your work can be heavy sometimes. How are you doing?"

From there, you can invite your loved one to share about what’s going on and let them know that you’re there to listen and support how you can. That may look like helping your loved one find services like mental health treatment and peer support, or it may just be reminding your loved one that they are not alone and that you’ll be there for them when things are hard. 

Resources to support the mental health and well-being of first responders and their families are listed below. We hope you will find them useful for helping your loved one and getting support for yourself as a friend, family member, or caregiver. 

First Responder Mental Health Resources 

  • The Battle Within offers a therapy program that matches veterans, first responders, and frontline medical personnel with a therapist and covers the cost of their first six sessions. This structured support is designed to help individuals process trauma and establish healthy habits as part of their healing journey.   
  • Bulletproof is a confidential and anonymous resource that provides law enforcement professionals and their families with mental health and wellness initiatives, addiction awareness tools, assessments and direction towards treatment and care.  
  • COPLINE is a 24/7 confidential service that helps law enforcement officers and their families deal with stressors both on and off the job. Help is provided by experienced or retired law enforcement officers.   
  • Firestrong is a 24/7 firefighter and family crisis and support line that can be reached at (844) 525-3473.  
  • The National Volunteer Fire Council provides a directory of behavioral health professionals, vetted by the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA) for cultural competence with fire and emergency services professionals.  
  • Next Rung links firefighters and first responders to professional or peer resources. The organization offers free peer support via talk, text, social media messaging, email, Skype, or FaceTime. To contact Next Rung, text “SUPPORT” to (833) 698-7864.   
  • Responder Strong offers support for all emergency responders and their families including referrals, self-help tools and educational resources.     
  • 911 At Ease International provides access to free, trauma-informed counseling for first responders and families, including police, fire, paramedics, emergency medical personnel and other essential agencies. You can access help online or by calling their 24/7 Support Line at (888) 283-2734. 

If you believe your loved one may be experiencing a mental health or suicide crisis, we encourage you to help them connect with crisis services right away.  

Mental Health Crisis Resources 

  • The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential crisis counseling 24/7/365 just by dialing 988.  
    • To reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for Veterans, select "1"  
    • To reach Nacional de Prevención del Suicidio (Spanish) select "2"  
    • Lifeline Options for Deaf + Hard of Hearing for TTY Users: use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988. You may also text 988, or chat function is available here at 988Lifeline.org.  
  • Crisis Text Line also offers free 24/7 mental health support. Text “BADGE” to 741741 for help.  
  • Safe Call Now is a confidential 24-hour crisis referral service for first responders, emergency services personnel, medical professionals, and their family members nationwide. They can be reached at (206) 459-3020. 

Peer Support and Education 

As a concerned friend or family member, it’s important to know that help is available and recovery is possible. You might consider attending a NAMI Family-to-Family course or joining a NAMI Family Support Group at your local NAMI Affiliate to connect with other friends and family members of loved ones affected by mental health conditions and learn strategies to support your loved one. 

We are so glad you found this information. NAMI HelpLine offers a Family Caregiver Service. It brings together family caregivers with shared experiences and equips HelpLine Specialists with knowledge and insights into what helps. If you are a family caregiver and would like support from a peer, we encourage you to call the NAMI Family Caregiver HelpLine at 800-950-NAMI (6264) or send a text to 62640. We are available Monday through Friday, from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm EST.

Hours of operation: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. EST 

Call: 800-950-NAMI (6264) 

Text: 62640  

Email: helpline@nami.org

Website: www.nami.org/help

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