Development and Implementation of Web-Based Safety Planning Intervention Training for Firefighter Peer Support...

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Mental Health Interventions
• Emergency Services Research

Background:

• Firefighters face elevated suicide risk, yet suicide prevention initiatives in the fire service are limited.
• Existing suicide prevention efforts lack tailored interventions for the unique needs of firefighters.
• Limited research exists on effective suicide prevention strategies within the fire service context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a web-based Safety Planning Intervention (SPI) training program for firefighter peer support specialists.
• To assess the feasibility and scalability of online SPI training for enhancing peer support in the fire service.
• To improve the capacity of peer support specialists to implement suicide safety plans.

Main Methods:

• A program evaluation of a web-based Safety Planning Intervention (SPI) training course.
• 213 firefighter peer support specialists completed pre-training questionnaires and 3-month follow-up assessments.
• Evaluation included measures of satisfaction, knowledge, self-efficacy, and safety plan completion rates.

Main Results:

• High participant satisfaction (94.4% recommendation rate) and significant increases in SPI knowledge and self-efficacy were observed.
• Safety plan completion rates increased seven-fold, from 3.5% at baseline to 25.2% at follow-up (p < .001).
• Completed safety plans reportedly resulted in positive outcomes in 97.6% of cases.

Conclusions:

• Web-based SPI training is a feasible and scalable method for equipping peer support specialists to aid at-risk individuals.
• The training significantly enhanced peer support specialists' ability to implement suicide safety plans effectively.
• This approach holds promise for improving suicide prevention efforts within the fire service.