First Responder Resiliency ECHO: Innovative Telementoring during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The First Responder ECHO (Extension for Community Outcomes) program was established in 2019 to provide education for first responders on self-care techniques and resiliency while establishing a community of practice to alleviate the enormous stress due to trauma and substance misuse in the community. When the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic hit the United States (US) in March 2020, a tremendous strain was placed on first responders and healthcare workers, resulting in a program expansion to include stress mitigation strategies. From 31 March 2020, through 31 December 2020, 1530 unique first responders and frontline clinicians participated in the newly expanded First Responder Resiliency (FRR) ECHO. The robust curriculum included: psychological first aid, critical incident debriefing, moral distress, crisis management strategies, and self-care skills. Survey and focus group results demonstrated that, while overall stress levels did not decline, participants felt more confident using psychological first aid, managing and recognizing colleagues who needed mental health assistance, and taking time for self-care. Although first responders still face a higher level of stress as a result of their occupation, this FRR ECHO program improves stress management skills while providing weekly learning-listening sessions, social support, and a community of practice for all first responders.

Psychological First Aid Training of Police Officers

“…Furthermore, the present findings provide further support and extend the findings of both Katzman et al ( 2021 ) and Lewis et al ( 2014 ). More precisely, these studies reported significant benefits from PFA training in police officers: significantly increased confidence on providing PFA, competence in providing help in traumatic events, increased PFA knowledge, and self-care practicing were reported (Katzman et al 2021 ; Lewis et al 2014 ).…”

“…Furthermore, the present findings provide further support and extend the findings of both Katzman et al ( 2021 ) and Lewis et al ( 2014 ). More precisely, these studies reported significant benefits from PFA training in police officers: significantly increased confidence on providing PFA, competence in providing help in traumatic events, increased PFA knowledge, and self-care practicing were reported (Katzman et al 2021 ; Lewis et al 2014 ). In the present study, trained police officers were compared to a control group, which received no training in order to control for influences of other variables, mainly the influences of questionnaire re-administration.…”

“…A total of 582 Australian police officers were trained on PFA and post-training assessment revealed significantly enhanced confidence on providing PFA, better self-assessed competence in providing help in disasters and traumatic events, as well as increased PFA knowledge. More recently, during the pandemic, a novel tele-mentoring model, named First Responders Resiliency ECHO project, was applied to first responders, among whom a group of policemen (Katzman et al 2021 ). The project contained a PFA program among others (critical incident debriefing, burnout, compassion fatigue etc.).…”

“…Data from 45 participants revealed significantly higher confidence to providing PFA and trauma-informed care, as well as improved managing of mental illness emergencies and self-care practicing. However, both the aforementioned studies (Katzman et al 2021 ; Lewis et al 2014 ) were single group studies, as no control group was used, and thus the interpretation of the results should be cautious.…”

A Community-Based Management of COVID-19 in a Mobile Container Unit

“…Equipped with high-standard internet connectivity, the Smart Pod functionality can also include components of telemedicine and telementoring to provide guidance and education to frontline community healthcare workers. Telementoring, by models such as Project ECHO [48,49], allowed for highly motivating, interactive sessions on the latest best practices, which were especially critical during a pandemic with rapidly changing guidance around COVID-19 testing, management, vaccine administration. Smart Pod healthcare workers were able to implement best practices and be able to counsel patients with new information as it emerged in the literature, especially as challenges such as vaccine hesitancy arose.…”