Editor in Chief Bobby Halton and FireRescue Editor in Chief Erich Roden talk to Frank Ricci, P.J. Norwood, and Jim Rascati about employee assistance programs (EAP) and mental health issues.
http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2015/01/humpday-hangout-4.html
Employee Assistance Programs are more than just a buzzword…
Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) offers free and confidential counseling services for employees including members of their immediate family. Immediate family generally includes the husband, wife or partner as well as children still on their benefit plan. EAPs generally are prepaid services provided by the employer as an additional benefit. The number of session can vary from 3, 5, 6 or more. By far, the majority of EAPs provide up to three sessions.
Good EAPs should provide counseling not just for mental health and substance abuse but for any issue. Although EAPs primarily focus on behavioral health issues they can provide counseling for a variety of matters, i.e. marital, family, children, school problems, job conflicts, career changes, stress, etc. Even “happy” events like getting married, having a baby, buying a home, etc. can be anxiety producing.
Cost
There is no cost of EAP services to the employee/family member as the employer pays a fee to provide the EAP as an additional benefit. EAP fees can range from anywhere from $15 to $50 per employee per year. The capitated rate is determined by the number of lives covered, how many sessions, how many locations to be covered, how many hours are included for employee orientations, wellness seminars, etc.
Confidentiality
As the fire officer it is critical that your members know that they can trust you. This means their issues will not be leaked as the latest rumor. EAP services are absolutely confidential except where the law requires disclosure. Many EAP service providers are licensed behavioral health professionals like Ph.D. Clinical Psychologists, Master level Social Workers, Marriage and Family Counselors, etc., all of whom are mandated reporters.
The counseling services that are provided by an EAP are confidential with the exception of:
Organizational Services
Some EAPs also provide organizational interventions such as:
EAPs can provide wellness seminars on a variety of topics, such as:
EAPs can provide training seminars on a variety of topics, such as:
Supervisor Training – Identifying Firefighters at Risk
Supervisor Training is vitally important so that Command staff can learn on how to identify work, behavior or other performance problems before they worsen. The majority of individuals become supervisors through promotion or attrition yet very few have had specific training on how to manage people, especially those exhibiting work performance problems. Supervisor training will provide command staff with specific skills and techniques to identify problems as well as firefighters at risk, and how to initiate constructive interventions up to and including supervisory referrals to the EAP. This training also provides an overview of the following specific concerns for firefighters: stress, depression & suicide, and substance abuse.
A good EAP should also provide for ongoing and unlimited supervisory phone consultations.
Psychological First Aid/Critical Incident Debriefings
A good EAP should have availability to respond immediately 24/7 for any request for psychological first aid. The behavioral health professionals responding should have a minimum of a masters-degree in a behavioral health field, training in psychological first aid/critical incident debriefing, trauma experience and, most importantly, understand and be familiar with the culture of first responders.
Recommended Protocols for Psychological First Aid/Critical Incident Debriefings
Our recommended protocol is that the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) be contacted immediately after a critical incident. Depending upon the nature of the critical incident, the EAP may be requested by Command staff to go to the scene, the emergency room, or directly to the Fire Department and meet with the firefighters directly involved.
On some occasions the defusing may be sufficient. In other situations the EAP may recommend that within 24 – 72 hours from the critical incident an official CID meeting should be held at Fire Headquarters. Psychological First Aid (CID) is facilitated by the EAP and we strongly recommend that attendance is mandated for all firefighters directly involved. However, it is not required that anyone speak during this formal debriefing. Our expectation is that only the initial first responders on the scene are requested to attend. This is meant to be a psychological and not an operational debriefing.
Fire Department Peer Support
Some EAPs also provide Peer Support Development and Training.
Fire Department Peer Support programs were developed because historically firefighters and other first responders have been fairly reluctant to access EAP or psychological services. And yet the professional literature shows that firefighters have:
Another key objective of Fire Department Peer Support Teams is to decrease the stigma of seeking professional assistance. This will be accomplished through education, information and by “word of mouth.” The more that members of the department learn that there is help available, that their confidentiality will be maintained, that fellow firefighters have successful used EAP or other professional services, the more likely it will be utilized by more people.
How would I know if my Department offered an EAP?
If you are part of a municipality chances are very high that your City offers EAP services. The Chiefs office should know whether or not there is an EAP. If they do not, then a call to either Human Resources or the Benefits Department. If you are part of a smaller town and there is no Human Resource Department you may want to call someone in the Finance Department.
If you are part of a volunteer Fire Department you may want to call the Mayor or Fire Selectman’s office to inquire whether the Town offers EAP services to your department.
In Summary
Offering Employee Assistance Programs makes good business AND financial sense. Did you know that:
For more information please contact:
James Rascati, Director of Employee Assistance Programs
Behavioral Health Consultants, LLC
3018 Dixwell Avenue
Hamden, CT 06518
(203) 288-3554, ext. 18
James Rascati, LCSW is a partner at Behavioral Health Consultants, LLC (BHC) in Hamden, CT and is the director of Employee Assistance Programs. In this role he is responsible for EAP services for 20 paid and volunteer Fire Departments in CT. He and his colleagues have trained and developed six Fire Department Peer Support teams.
In addition to his clinical, training and consultative work he also maintains an appointment as a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry (Social Work) at the Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.
The login above DOES NOT provide access to Fire Engineering magazine archives. Please go here for our archives.
Our contributors' posts are not vetted by the Fire Engineering technical board, and reflect the views and opinions of the individual authors. Anyone is welcome to participate.
For vetted content, please go to www.fireengineering.com/issues.
We are excited to have you participate in our discussions and interactive forums. Before you begin posting, please take a moment to read our community policy page.
Be Alert for Spam
We actively monitor the community for spam, however some does slip through. Please use common sense and caution when clicking links. If you suspect you've been hit by spam, e-mail peter.prochilo@clarionevents.com.
Check out the most recent episode and schedule of UPCOMING PODCASTS
75 members
83 members
178 members
73 members
328 members
611 members
12 members
123 members
15 members
408 members
© 2023 Created by fireeng.
Powered by
FE Home | Product Center | Training | Zones | Fire-EMS | Firefighting | Apparatus | Health/Safety | Leadership | Prevention | Rescue |
You need to be a member of Fire Engineering Training Community to add comments!
Join Fire Engineering Training Community