PTSD Prevention & Awareness in Public Safety
First responder PTSD prevention starts with recognizing traumatic exposure as a workplace hazard.
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 safety hazard and advocates for prevention as an organizational responsibility, not solely an individual concern.
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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 safety hazard and advocates for prevention as an organizational responsibility, not solely an individual concern.
Download Free Resources →
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 to advance recognition of traumatic exposure as a workplace hazard.
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 to advance recognition of traumatic exposure as a workplace hazard.
FRBH does not prescribe how agencies address workplace hazards.
Across Public Safety
FRBH’s mission includes personnel serving in:
☑ Fire Service
☑ Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
☑ Law Enforcement
☑ Public Safety Communications / Dispatch
☑ Corrections
☑ Wildland Fire
☑ Emergency Management
☑ Federal Public Safety Organizations
This includes personnel across ranks, assignments, and employment classifications, including those whose work happens away from the incident scene.
☑ Fire Service
☑ Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
☑ Law Enforcement
☑ Public Safety Communications / Dispatch
☑ Corrections
☑ Wildland Fire
☑ Emergency Management
☑ Federal Public Safety Organizations
This includes personnel across ranks, assignments, and employment classifications, including those whose work happens away from the incident scene.
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.