PTSD Prevention & Awareness in Public Safety
The American Board of First Responder Behavioral Healthcare (FRBH) is an independent national nonprofit organization dedicated to first responder PTSD prevention through education and advocacy.
FRBH advances recognition of traumatic exposure as a workplace hazard and prevention as an organizational responsibility, not solely an individual concern.
Explore Free Educational Resources →
FRBH advances recognition of traumatic exposure as a workplace hazard and prevention as an organizational responsibility, not solely an individual concern.
Explore Free Educational Resources →
National First Responder PTSD Prevention Awareness Campaign
Recognizing traumatic exposure as a workplace hazard.
FRBH's national awareness campaign seeks to change how PTSD prevention is understood in public safety.
The campaign raises awareness of traumatic exposure as a foreseeable workplace hazard and advances recognition of organizational responsibility for prevention before first responders are harmed or have to ask for help.
Explore the National Awareness Campaign →
FRBH's national awareness campaign seeks to change how PTSD prevention is understood in public safety.
The campaign raises awareness of traumatic exposure as a foreseeable workplace hazard and advances recognition of organizational responsibility for prevention before first responders are harmed or have to ask for help.
Explore the National Awareness Campaign →
Recognizing Traumatic Exposure as a Workplace Hazard
Public safety work involves foreseeable traumatic exposures, including line-of-duty deaths, mass-casualty events, pediatric fatalities, serious injuries to colleagues, and repeated exposure to distressing events throughout a career.
These exposures are hazards of the job.
Many states already recognize PTSD as a work-related injury for first responders. While these laws address the injury, FRBH advocates for recognition of the workplace hazard that can contribute to it.
Recognizing the hazard is the starting point for prevention.
These exposures are hazards of the job.
Many states already recognize PTSD as a work-related injury for first responders. While these laws address the injury, FRBH advocates for recognition of the workplace hazard that can contribute to it.
Recognizing the hazard is the starting point for prevention.
Advancing Prevention Through Education & Advocacy
Employee assistance programs, peer support, chaplaincy, and behavioral health care provide essential support to first responders and their families. These services remain important, but they do not replace the need to recognize traumatic exposure as a workplace safety hazard.
FRBH works to:
☑ Increase awareness of traumatic exposure as a workplace hazard.
☑ Educate public safety stakeholders about the relationship between occupational traumatic exposure and PTSD.
☑ Advocate for the recognition of traumatic exposure within workplace safety.
☑ Advance understanding of PTSD prevention as an organizational responsibility.
FRBH engages public safety leaders, policymakers, the workforce, and the public through education and advocacy.
FRBH does not prescribe how agencies address workplace hazards.
FRBH works to:
☑ Increase awareness of traumatic exposure as a workplace hazard.
☑ Educate public safety stakeholders about the relationship between occupational traumatic exposure and PTSD.
☑ Advocate for the recognition of traumatic exposure within workplace safety.
☑ Advance understanding of PTSD prevention as an organizational responsibility.
FRBH engages public safety leaders, policymakers, the workforce, and the public through education and advocacy.
FRBH does not prescribe how agencies address workplace hazards.
Across Public Safety
FRBH’s national awareness campaign focuses on six public safety disciplines:
☑ Fire Service
☑ Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
☑ Law Enforcement
☑ Public Safety Communications / Dispatch
☑ Corrections
☑ Wildland Fire
The campaign recognizes that traumatic exposure can occur across ranks, assignments, and work environments, including positions away from the incident scene.
The principle remains the same: first responder PTSD prevention starts with workplace safety.
☑ Fire Service
☑ Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
☑ Law Enforcement
☑ Public Safety Communications / Dispatch
☑ Corrections
☑ Wildland Fire
The campaign recognizes that traumatic exposure can occur across ranks, assignments, and work environments, including positions away from the incident scene.
The principle remains the same: first responder PTSD prevention starts with workplace safety.
SCOPE: FRBH is an independent national nonprofit advancing first responder PTSD prevention through education and advocacy. FRBH does not provide clinical care, consulting, training, certification, accreditation, or implementation services, and does not endorse commercial products or services.