The Gold Standard in Responder Behavioral Health

The FRBH National Standard for Responder Behavioral Health establishes the nation’s baseline system-level requirements for how public safety organizations must design, govern, and sustain behavioral health systems to protect responders from cumulative occupational trauma.

This standard applies to all public safety organizations, including:

• Local, regional, state, federal, tribal,

• Volunteer, career, hybrid, and private-sector responder agencies.

The duty to protect responder behavioral health is universal. The system—not the individual—must carry the responsibility.

Under this standard, behavioral health support is: Automatic. Embedded. Protected. Sustained. No responder should ever have to ask for help. The system must already be built to deliver it.

Scope of Authority

This standard governs organizational system design and structural duty-to-protect requirements only. It does not regulate:

• Individual clinical licensure

• Clinical scope of practice

• Collective bargaining agreements

• Labor-management relations

• Employment contracts

FRBH establishes system-level accreditation and professional competency standards and does not provide direct clinical care, treatment, or diagnosis.

The Nine National System Requirements (Executive Layer)

These nine requirements define what every complete responder behavioral health system must contain at the structural level.

1. Automatic Post-Exposure Activation

2. Embedded Psychological First Aid (PFA)

3. Protected Confidential Access

4. Proactive Cumulative Exposure Tracking

5. Longitudinal Career-Span Support

6. Organizational Duty-to-Protect

7. Mandatory Supervisor Activation & Accountability

8. Family System Inclusion

9. Budgetary & Structural Protection

Formal FRBH National Standard (Enforcement Layer)

1. Automatic Post-Exposure Activation

Behavioral health system activation shall occur automatically when a responder is exposed to a qualifying high-risk occupational event meeting one or more trigger thresholds. Activation is:

• System-initiated

• Non-discretionary

• Auditable

Trigger A — Lethal or Near-Lethal Force

Automatic activation is required when a responder:

• Discharges a weapon at a person

• Is the direct target of attempted lethal force

• Participates in an operation resulting in a fatality directly linked to responder action

Trigger B — Responder Death or Critical Injury

• Line-of-duty death

• On-duty suicide

• Duty-related critical injury involving:

  • Surgical intervention

  • ICU admission

  • Air medical transport

  • Permanent functional impairment

Trigger C — Pediatric or Dependent Fatality (Primary Handler Only)

• Pediatric fatality

• Fatal child abuse or neglect

• Dependent-adult fatality

Trigger D — Mass-Fatality or Declared Mass-Casualty Event

• Two (2) or more fatalities within a single operational period

• Declared mass-casualty incident

• Sustained fatal disaster exposure

Trigger E — Internal Agency Fatality or Workplace Violence

• On-duty responder suicide

• Fatal training incidents

• Workplace violence causing critical injury or death

Trigger F — Cumulative Exposure Safety Override

Automatic activation is required when exposure tracking identifies:

• Three (3) or more high-intensity trauma exposures within a compressed operational window

• Neurocognitive, behavioral, or operational safety thresholds exceeded

Mandatory System Rule

Once any Trigger (A-F) is met:

• Activation shall occur automatically

• Activation shall not depend on:

  • Responder self-report

  • Supervisor discretion

  • Disciplinary review

  • Workers’ compensation determination

Automatic activation is reserved exclusively for objectively defined lethal, pediatric, mass-fatality, internal fatality, or cumulative overload exposures.

2. Embedded Psychological First Aid (PFA)

Behavioral health must be built into operations as infrastructure, not discretionary programming.

3. Protected Confidential Access

Structural separation must exist between:

• Behavioral health care

• Fitness-for-duty

• Discipline and command authority

4. Proactive Cumulative Exposure Tracking

Systems must track:

• Incident type

• Frequency

• Intensity

• Duration

5. Longitudinal Career-Span Support

Support must span:

• Immediate

• Short-term

• Mid-term

• Long-term

Delayed trauma responses must be anticipated and monitored, not ignored.

6. Organizational Duty-to-Protect

Behavioral health becomes a formal operational safety obligation, equal in authority to:

• PPE

• Scene safety

• Risk management

• Use-of-force policy

7. Mandatory Supervisor Activation & Accountability

Failure to activate after qualifying exposure constitutes:

• Duty-of-care breach

• Leadership failure

8. Family System Inclusion

Mandatory automatic family following critical incidents.

9. Budgetary & Structural Protection

Behavioral health funding must be insulated from political, administrative, and leadership fluctuation.

National Compliance Classification

❌ Not Aligned

⚠️ Partially Aligned

✅ Fully Aligned with the FRBH National Standard

Only agencies meeting full compliance qualify for FRBH Accreditation

System Authority, Verification & Continuity

FRBH retains exclusive national authority to define, verify, and maintain compliance with this standard. Verification may include:

• Document review

• Activation testing

• System validation

Failure to maintain required system functions may result in:

• Conditional status

• Mandated corrective action

• Suspension

• Revocation of accreditation

FRBH-compliant systems are designated as continuous safety infrastructure and may not be dismantled due to leadership change.

Liability & Responsibility Limitation

FRBH provides no clinical, operational, or employment services.

All liability remains solely with:

• The accredited organization

• Employing agency

• Licensed providers

• Contracted service partners

• Supervisory and command personnel

Accreditation reflects system alignment only and does not constitute:

• Clinical endorsement

• Operational control

• Assumption of duty-of-care

• Transfer of legal responsibility

Non-Exclusivity & No Vendor Endorsement

Accreditation does not endorse any vendor, product, platform, modality, or service.

No Outcome Guarantee

FRBH verifies system alignment only and makes no guarantee of:

• Individual outcomes

• Injury prevention

• Risk elimination

• Suicide prevention

Standard Review & Evolution

This standard will be periodically reviewed and revised to reflect:

• Emerging evidence

• Operational realities

• National responder health priorities

Implementation Framework

• FRBH National Standard = Public System Requirement (What)

• Sustained Functional Resilience™ (SFR) = Protected Operating Framework (How)

The Gold Standard Promise

✅ Support is automatic

✅ Care is embedded

✅ Access is protected

✅ Trauma is tracked

✅ Families are included

✅ Leadership is accountable

✅ Funding is protected

✅ The system—not the responder—owns the burden

Authority Statement

FRBH is the Gold Standard in Responder Behavioral Health and the national authority responsible for establishing and maintaining the FRBH National Standard for Responder Behavioral Health.