PLEASE NOTE:

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, all “Saving Blue Lives through Training on PTSD, Suicide, Resilience, and Peer Support” will be held online via Zoom. Each day of training will be held from 8am-4pm, and dates are listed below.

_________

Saving Blue Lives through Training on PTSD, Suicide, Resilience, and Peer Support

The Illinois Public Pension Fund Association (IPPFA) and Northern Illinois University have teamed up to develop a program to assist active and retired police officers, fire/ems responders and 9-1-1 operators in expanding their knowledge of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as it effects emergency workers. This program, “Saving Blue Lives through Training on PTSD, Suicide, Resilience and Peer Support,” is offered at no-cost to those attending.

First responders are routinely exposed to critical incidents involving exposure to injury or death in others, as well as the risk of injury or death to themselves. Research shows, and those in the profession intuitively know, that individual incidents and accumulated exposure can adversely affect the mental and physical health of those involved.

This no-cost NIU – IPPFA Program will include:

  • Learning the symptoms of PTSD
  • Conditions that often arise with PTSD, such as depression and substance abuse
  • Identifying ways to bolster resistance
  • Suicide and conditions such as PTSD
  • Methods for dealing with PTSD without the help of a mental health professional
  • Effective treatments with the help of a mental health professional

NIU has received a grant from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority for a demonstration project. This allows NIU and the IPPFA to develop and sponsor two-day seminars on PTSD awareness and dealing with this condition. Continued funding for the program in 2021 is anticipated but cannot be guaranteed.  The seminars will be conducted by a qualified mental healthcare professional, along with the assistance of experienced sworn personnel with substantial careers in emergency response and investigations.

The remaining two-day Zoom seminars will be held from 8am-4pm and are scheduled for:

  • September 24th and 25th
  • November 4th and 5th
  • December 17th and 18th