Peer Support Trainings

The OFCA was awarded a federal grant to provide Peer Support Trainings throughout the state of Ohio. We have partnered with the IAFF, and plan on hosting classes virtually and in-person in 2024. There will be no cost to the participant, and we have some availability to reimburse for mileage for those who travel to an in-person training.

Additionally, you do not need to be an OFCA member to participate in these trainings, so please share!

Important Training Information for Students:

Registration: All participants must register to attend the IAFF Peer Support Training. There is a registration deadline for each training, to ensure enough time for the IAFF to ship student materials. Each student will provide their shipping address during registration. The link to register can be used by both IAFF members and non-members.

Student Expectations: Each student is required to attend this training from a desktop or laptop computer with a webcam. Students are not permitted to join from cell phones or tablets, and each student must join from their own computer. This online training is designed to be highly interactive and students will be expected to participate in multiple ways, including sharing their webcam, typing in the chat, answering polls, speaking verbally, and participating in group discussion.
Peer Support Training Prerequisite: Within 24 hours after registering for the IAFF Peer Support Training, participants will receive instructions to access the IAFF Behavioral Health Awareness course, a two-hour online course that should be completed prior to the Peer Support training.
IAFF Resiliency Training Prerequisite: Within 24 hours after registering for the training, participants will receive an email with individual feedback from their online resiliency assessment completed during registration, as well as a link to access the IAFF Resiliency Training Video Overview. This one-hour video series should be viewed prior to the training.

UPCOMING PEER SUPPORT TRAININGS:

The IAFF Peer Support Training is delivered by IAFF master peer support instructors in two formats: 1) two days in person or 2) three days online.

After completing the training, members have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide support to their peers, have a basic understanding of common behavioral health issues affecting the fire service, can serve as a bridge to community resources or behavioral health treatment when indicated, and are able to build or enhance their peer support programs.

Curriculum

Participants must first complete the online IAFF Behavioral Health Awareness Course. The two-hour course is self-paced and tailored for the fire service.

Subsequently, members participate in the interactive training taught by experienced peers in the fire service. The curriculum focuses on active listening, confidentiality, general assessment and suicide assessment, crisis intervention, action planning, outreach, self-care and building an effective peer support program.

Instructors use small group learning methods and skill-building exercises to encourage student participation and mastery of the material.

Time: All virtual Peer Support Trainings will be held from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM.