Austin-Travis County EMS 2023 Annual Report

wellness & peer support

The Public Safety Wellness Center is an occupational medical clinic that provides holistic, specialized, work-related wellness services to the City of Austin first responders. Programs and initiatives: • Conducts abbreviated and full medical exams • Annual physicals • New hire exams • Return to work • On-the-job injury exams • Behavioral health, fitness, and vaccination services Wellness fitness team, a team of exercise physiologists, conducts station visits for EMS crews. These visits include a menu option of injury mitigations, a resiliency course focused on health topics, or a lifting course. The fitness team also provides individual fitness consults when requested. Peer Support Team Mission: Our mission is to provide Emergency Service Personnel, both sworn and non sworn, psychological and emotional support through pre-incident education, spousal/family support, on-scene support and demobilization intervention, post-incident diffusion or one-on-one interaction. Purpose The purpose of the Peer Support Program is to prevent or lessen the potential negative impact of stress upon employees by providing emotional support, information and assistance. The program provides employees psychological and emotional support through one-on-one discussions, pre FOSTERING THE PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL HEALTH OF EMPLOYEES

Cadet PT before class

Wellness eval for physicals

incident education, education on stress management, spousal/significant other support, on-scene support and demobilization intervention and diffusion. Team Members will work in conjunction with designated mental health professionals. Goals • To provide a system of trusted support that will aid employees in resolving situations affecting their personal and professional environments

•

Be a liaison between the employee and resources available to them To work in conjunction with the Peer Support Teams of APD, AFD and Victim Services (COA) to promote cross-agency support system

•

30