In this presentation, goal is to give firefighters and officers, along with psychologists and other mental health clinicians who work with fire department personnel, a common language as it pertains to the different levels of behavioral health services that should be available to firefighters and officers.
I’m doing this by comparing the four different levels of behavioral health knowledge/services to the four levels of hazardous materials training and certification that form a fire department’s response to a hazardous materials incident. In doing so, my goal is to inform and educate members of both disciplines (i.e., the fire service and psychology) so that their conversations surrounding improving behavioral health services for the fire service personnel are more fruitful and productive.
Just as there is no one level of a fire department’s response to a hazardous materials incident, there is no one level of behavioral health services. The level of hazmat response is based on the scope and magnitude of the problem following a good assessment of the situation. So, too, must the appropriate level of behavioral health response be based on a good assessment that effectively matches a firefighter’s need and the availabiity of mental health professiona
Most firefighters are trained & certified at the Awareness and Operations Levels.
Technician Level training & certification is required for firefighters to be a member of a formal Hazardous Materials Response Team.
A small percentage of Technicians pursue Specialist Level training & certification to advance to leadership roles on a formal Hazardous Materials Response Team.
Awareness Level Behavioral Health Training is provided by many fire departments and that training may or may not be delivered by a licensed mental health clinician.
Training of fire department personal to become members of an organized Peer Support Team is typically provided by a licensed mental health clinician.
Intervention services for firefighters or officers experiencing behavior health issues is provided by licensed mental health clinicians such as psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, or marriage and family therapists.
In addition to providing intervention services for firefighters or officers experiencing behavior health issues, psychologists can provide services related to assessments, industrial/organizational psychology, and operations psychology (More detail on this follows).
Comparing the Two Disciplines
In the following four charts, we’ll take a look at how the scope for the four levels–Awareness, Operations, Technician, and Specialist–for the Hazardous Materials training and certification for firefighters “match up” with the scope of mental health services that mental health practitioners can provide to fire departments and their personnel.
Level
Fire Service (HazMat)
Mental Health
Awareness Level
Awareness level trained firefighters are “first on the scene” to a hazardous materials incident.
They’re be responsible for identifying the presence of a hazardous material, taking charge of the initial protective actions (isolating or evacuating the area), and calling for assistance that will minimize the impact on people and the environment.
No hand-on skills training beyond that is provided. Firefighters with Awareness Level training should NEVER come in contact with the product.
Firefighters and officers are becoming informed and educated about mental and behavioral health issues and what to look for in themselves and their peers. This training should be provided by a licensed mental health professional.
Some skills training in what to do beyond that (e.g., resistance and resilience building, yoga, meditation) is being provided by many fire departments.
Level
Fire Service (HazMat)
Mental Health
Operations Level
Firefighters that are trained in defensive tactics: Damming, diking, diverting wearing their structural firefighting protective ensemble, aka, turnout gear (that is not rated as chemical protective clothing) without coming in contact with the hazardous material.
The goal of firefighters trained to the Operations Level of HazMat response is to contain the leak or spill to the smallest possible “footprint” until a Hazardous Materials Response Team or contracted commercial hazmat cleanup company can arrive.
Anything beyond that, they need to call for next level of skills and training (i.e., HazMat Technicians) for help. This is where a dedicated Hazardous Materials Response Team would be called for.
Many fire departments have established Peer Support programs that have selected firefighters who receive specific training and education to assist their fellow firefighters who may be experiencing an acute abnormal psychological response to a particular emergency incident or a more chronic response from an accumulation of stressors.
The goal of peer support is Support, not intervention. Good peer support team members must possess good listening skills, empathy, and a thorough knowledge of how and when to direct one of their peers to the appropriate “next level,” the Mental Health Technician (i.e., licensed clinicians) through an Employee Assistance Program or other clinician-based resources (e.g., private practice clinicians who are culturally competent when it comes to firefighters). More on that in the next chart.
Level
Fire Service (HazMat)
Mental Health
Technician Level
HazMat Technicians are firefighters with the specialized training to enter the hot zone (i.e., the area affected by the hazardous material’s release) wearing fully encapsulated chemical protective suits to actively control leaks or product movement.
Mental Health Technicians are clinicians who have the necessary skills and training for intervention (e.g., licensed clinical social worker, professional clinical counselors, marriage and family therapists).
Optimally, these Technician-Level Mental Health Professionals are culturally competent meaning that they know and understand:
- What firefighters do
- Why they do it
- How they do it
- The conditions under which they do it
- The unique stressors of the job.
Level
Fire Service (HazMat)
Mental Health
Specialist Level
The Specialist responder is the highest level of responder for HazMat incidents, with an in-depth and highly advanced level of scientific knowledge regarding chemicals, their properties, and their behavior when a hazardous material “gets out of its container”(e.g., a drum, pipeline, over-the-road transport vehicle).
The HazMat Specialist provides a more observational, trouble-shooting role – leading, guiding, and directing HazMat Technicians and watching out for potential complications. They may also take a more hands-on approach, working alongside Technicians within the Hot Zone (Particularly true for smaller hazmat response teams).
Specialist level responders may also be expected to work with the Incident Commander (IC) from within an on-site command post.
Mental Health Specialists are licensed psychologists who have education and training in the five domains of psychology:
- Assessments (Pre-employment, fitness for duty, and disability claims)
- Intervention (Providing individual, family, or group psychotherapy)
- Industrial/Organizational (Working with fire departments to ensure that the development of policies, procedures, and programs that are designed with the inclusion of human factors)
- Operations (Helping firefighters and officers to understand how human factors influence operational decision-making, safety, and risk assessment)
- Consultation (The domain that “weaves through” the other four domains to provide guidance and direction for fire department leaders)
Standard services a psychologist may offer are based on their scope of practice. While all psychologists receive training and education in the four principal domains, many choose a particular domain as their specialty.
Psychologists who choose to work in the consultation domain typically do so after having gained more knowledge and experience in working with the four principle domains.
Summary
We hope that you’ve found this comparison between the Hazardous Materials Response training and education that firefighters can receive, and the scope of practice for the different levels of Mental Health Services that can be made available to firefighters, to be helpful. Because at the Fire Service Psychology Association, fire service leaders, psychologists, and masters-level clinicians are dedicated to building a bridge between professional psychology and the fire service. And that bridge will be built when we have:
- Culturally competent clinicians available to fire departments and their people.
And
2. Firefighters and officers who are mental health literate (i.e., they know how to take care of their mental health and how to seek the assistance they need when they need it).
