Resources for Building Health and Resilience in 9‑1‑1

Public safety telecommunicators are devoted to assisting others every day, so it is essential that they take good care of themselves in order to better handle the challenges of their work and mitigate the impact of this constant exposure to trauma. In addition, studies show there may be negative health effects from shift work, stress, lack of exercise or poor eating habits.

The resources in this section may help individuals recognize signs of possible trouble and be proactive about building positive habits and striving for good mental and physical health.

APCO Courses

Surviving Stress

Stress is one of the most common words used in society today and something that each one of us will experience at some point in our life. Stress affects people of all ages, professions and life situations. However, emergency communications as a profession is inherently stressful with the various demands placed upon them by nature of the profession. Understanding these causes of stress in the profession will allow the public safety telecommunicator to recognize and mitigate some of the stressful situations that they may encounter. This course addresses how to detect stress within yourself and co-workers and provides measures to reduce its impact.

Webinars

 

APCO Standards

1.119.1-2021Public Safety Telecommunicator Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Program

Over the past generation, our industry has seen myriad changes in the way it operates, is structured, and the way personnel are trained. We have evolved out of necessity to keep pace with our technology driven world as our informational highways and capabilities become larger and faster. This constant evolution has placed new and unforeseen stressors of many natures on our public safety telecommunications personnel, and will continue to do so especially with the advent of visual technology arriving at 9-1-1 consoles in real time every day. These changes, along with the critical need of ensuring the mental health and well-being of all our PST personnel, are the touchstone for the creation of this standard.

It is inherent in the document that from agency to agency there may be nuanced differences impacted by State, County, or Local Laws as well as agency specific policies and procedures. Those differences notwithstanding, from a conceptual standpoint the information contained within the document should give any end-user public safety agency a well-defined blueprint for establishing the critical operational need in protecting the overall mental, physical and emotional well-being of our Public Safety Telecommunicators.

3.111.1-2022 Detecting Early Warning Symptoms of Stress in Public Safety Telecommunicators

This standard is intended to equip industry stakeholders, both individuals and agencies, with the tools and perspectives necessary for a proactive approach to detecting and mitigating the stress related challenges of the job of the Public Safety Telecommunicator.

1.120.1-2021 Crisis Intervention Techniques & Call Handling Procedures for PST

Public Safety Telecommunicators (PSTs) are typically the first layer of response to crisis-based calls and can serve as the initial layer of de-escalation attempts. PST’s must manage a wide range of emergency calls, often involving a variety of behavioral health disorders and conditions. Throughout Emergency Communications Centers there is a demand for skills associated with handling such calls in an appropriate, calming, and professional manner. To reflect the requests and needs for such improvement, APCO has published this standard, which provides a fundamental tool for PSTs. In practice, this standard is written to provide fundamental strategies and responsibilities for the agency, a brief understanding of behavioral health, PST responsibilities, and stress management for the PST. This standard provides procedures and techniques for improved responses for PSTs while handling a call involving a person in crisis.

PSC Magazine Articles

PSC, APCO’s bi-monthly magazine, in either print or digital form, is a benefit of APCO membership. We have linked to a few of these below. To read all of the related stories from past issues, members can log in to view the PSC back issues. If you are not a member, you can access the stories by joining APCO International.

Recent issues and articles include:

May/June 2026

March/April 2026

  • Stressed Out Strategies: Every Telecommunicator Needs A Personal Stress Plan
  • Bridging the Gap

November/December 2025

  • Finding a Voice
  • Action After a Major Incident

July/August 2025 

  • Holistic Health
  • Debriefing For 9-1-1

May/June 2025 

  • Mission-Alignment and Workload Balance Are Essential to Wellness in the ECC
  • Healthy Challenges in the ECC
  • Money-Making Wellness
  • Break Point
  • Emotional Rescue

March/April 2025

  • Beyond Blame
  • The Balanced Telecommunicator
 September/October 2024

  • Sleepless

July/August 2024

May/June 2024

March/April 2024

November/December 2023

  • Building Toward Burnout

May/June 2023

  • Proactive Telecommunicator Wellness
  • Strategies for Stress
  • Wellness Tech for the Telecommunicator
  • How Can We Cope? Dealing With the Stress That Follows a Critical Incident
  • Physical Fitness

January/February 2023

  • Raising Awareness of the Impacts of Working in Emergency Communications
  • Technology Tools for Telecommunicator Health

 

Chapter Newsletters and Materials

Florida APCO Wellness Committee

Florida APCO’s Wellness Committee provides documents and a newsletter tailored to the unique challenges of the public safety telecommunicators, promoting stress management, mental health support, and physical well-being.