Mental health first aid event held at LTCC for Fire and EMS

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A Mental Health First Aid for Fire and EMS (https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/population-focused-modules/fire-and-ems/) course was hosted by Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) on Friday, May 19. The class was offered for free to local firefighters and EMS personnel as well as LTCC students and family members of first responders. Twenty community members attended the event taught by Stephanie Carlson, a MHFA instructor from the Behavioral Health Division of El Dorado County Health & Human Services Agency.

The evidence-based course from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing provided certification to attendees to be recognized as Mental Health First Aiders in their respective agencies. The class focused on first responder well-being while also teaching communication strategies to discuss mental health concerns with both patients receiving care as well as fellow colleagues. The course was designed to help reduce mental health stigma amongst first responders, 85% of which have experienced mental health challenges at some point in their career (https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/MHFA_Fire_EMS_Flyer.pdf). The class was organized in recognition of National EMS Week as well as Mental Health Awareness Month.

Aimme Treutlein, Operations Manager for the CalTahoe Emergency Services Operations Authority attended the training, remarking that "Having the CalTahoe Paramedics and EMTs attend this class was beneficial not only for their own Mental Health awareness, but also provided them with tools and resources to better respond to Mental Health First Aid events amongst their coworkers and to better serve their patients and other members of the community in South Lake Tahoe. In addition, working cooperatively with other local agencies, such as the fire departments, local hospital, and the community college, during a training like this strengthens the bonds between these agencies and further contributes to an improved response to Mental Health First Aid events from dispatch of the First Responders through handoff to advanced medical care."

After witnessing the stress of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Caldor Fire compounded into the already challenging jobs of first responders, Valerie Smith, a certified emergency nurse and LTCC EMT program instructor began looking for ways to improve first responder well-being. She decided Mental Health First Aid would be a great benefit to the first responder community and donated her time to organize the event. She also has a personal investment in supporting those who keep our community safe, having come from a long line of public servants beginning with her great grandfather who served in San Francisco’s Mounted Police, her grandfather who was a WWII veteran and San Francisco Unified School District teacher, to her firefighter/ paramedic father who works for the Nevada Department of Public Safety. She recently earned her graduate certificate in Public Health Program Development from UNR to prepare her to lead similar first-responder wellness events in the future.