Presented by First Responder Trauma Counselors

Sponsored by Northeast Colorado RETAC

• • 📅 Date: January 26–30, 2026
  • 🕗 Time: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
  • 📍 Location: Overland Trail Museum, Sterling, Colorado

What Is Peer Support and Why It Matters

Peer support is a structured, confidential, and culturally grounded approach that empowers responders to help responders.
In Northeast Colorado and other rural or frontier communities, access to behavioral health professionals can be limited. Peer support bridges that gap by building a trusted network of colleagues who understand the realities of the work — the long shifts, critical incidents, and emotional toll that come with serving others.

Peer support programs:

• Create safe spaces for responders to talk openly about stress and trauma.
• Provide early intervention before challenges escalate into crises.
• Normalize help-seeking and reduce stigma around mental health.
• Strengthen agency culture by promoting trust, compassion, and resilience.
• Ensure that responders know when and how to connect peers to professional help.

These efforts are essential for EMS, fire, law enforcement, dispatch, and hospital personnel who serve across the nine counties of our region — ensuring we remain strong, supported, and ready to respond.

What You’ll Learn

This 40-hour Colorado P.O.S.T.–approved academy delivers a comprehensive, evidence-informed curriculum rooted in the best practices of peer support as endorsed by IAFF, IACP, SAMHSA, and the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

Participants will gain hands-on experience and practical tools across the following areas:

• Foundations of Peer Support — ethics, structure, and confidentiality
• Communication & Listening Skills — verbal, nonverbal, and facilitation techniques
• Problem Assessment & Solving — identifying issues early and supporting colleagues effectively
• Crisis Management & Critical Incident Stress — immediate response, stabilization, and follow-up
• Suicide Awareness, Assessment, and Prevention
• Grief, Loss, and Survivorship — helping peers and families navigate traumatic loss
• Stress Management & Resilience Building — preventing burnout, compassion fatigue, and “boreout”
• Dependency & Substance Misuse — understanding how trauma affects coping and recovery
• Relationship & Family Dynamics — maintaining balance between service and home life
• Cross-Cultural Competence — inclusion, diversity, and understanding across responder roles
• Organizational Stress & Communication — improving morale and reducing internal conflict
• Operational & Policy Guidelines — how to integrate peer programs within agencies
• Use of Therapy & K-9 Teams in Peer Support — practical, human-centered connection tools

Graduates leave equipped to create and sustain peer support programs that improve well-being, reduce turnover, and strengthen team performance across all first responder disciplines.

Regional Accessibility

Hosting the Academy at the Overland Trail Museum in Sterling ensures easy access for participants from across Northeast Colorado’s nine-county region.

NCRETAC is proud to sponsor this program, bringing world-class training to our local workforce and building stronger, more resilient emergency services across the plains and foothills.

Details

Registration & Contact

Reserve your seat today — this Academy fills up fast!
🔗 Register online: