A Call to All Public Safety-First Responders – Active and Retired!

ByMaggie DeBoard and Dr. Michael Bourke
Approximately five years ago, a multi-disciplinary team of federal and local law enforcement professionals, psychologists, and researchers began collaborating to raise awareness about mental health issues among first responders. The National Wellness Survey for Public Safety Personnel (NWSPSP) was developed to answer pragmatic questions that have plagued first responder community, such as how to best identify stressors that affect individuals working in public safety, how to effectively mitigate the effects of direct and secondary stress, and how to overcome the barriers that sometimes prevent public safety personnel from seeking mental health assistance.  

The NWSPSP was distributed to 165 local, state, and federal agencies from across the nation, and more than 8,000 responses were received. The results were illuminating; they revealed that police officers, emergency communications operators, and correctional workers were experiencing significantly more anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms compared to the general population, although very few had ever received a formal diagnosis for these conditions.  Of even greater concern were high rates of suicidal ideation found in each professional category.   

The survey results also helped shed light on the barriers to seeking treatment, which included respondents “wanting to handle it on their own” stigma or concerns about appearing weak, concerns about confidentiality, and fears that seeking help could impact their career, future employment, or security clearance.  

Additionally, the results led to significant gains in new legislation supporting first responders exposed to work-related trauma, resulting in workers compensation benefits for PTSD, anxiety and depression.  

International Wellness Survey

The 2025 version of the survey has been updated by the Foundation for First Responder Wellness & Resiliency, in partnership with Nova Southeastern University, with a new section for retired first responders, and expanded to include international public-safety partners.  As before, the identity of the respondents is anonymous. Take the survey and share it through your personal and professional networks with all active and former first responders.  A link to the survey, as well as a QR code, is included in the links below and in the survey information sheet.  It would be very helpful if public safety leaders overtly expressed their support for the survey and actively encouraged personnel to participate. Wide participation will provide the field with vital information to better protect first responders around the globe. The results from this survey will be shared through our website and social media accounts so they can be leveraged by individual jurisdictions and mental health providers. 

This is more than a survey.  It is your opportunity to ensure the shared experiences of our public safety-first responders are seen, heard, and understood – through data, not assumptions.  It is a chance to shape the future of training, mental health resources and support, and policy development for the first responder community. The more responses we capture, the more powerful the findings will be.  Only through your participation can we make a difference.  

Click here to take the survey and here to read the Survey Information Sheet

Maggie is a 38-year law enforcement professional who currently serves as a chief of police in Virginia. She has served at the executive level in both large and midsize agencies in the state and is a past president of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. In that position she lobbied the VA General Assembly to pass groundbreaking mental health legislation for first responders to provide workers compensation for anxiety and depression. She has developed and instituted progressive wellness initiatives for her agency that have been recognized on the national level and works both regionally and at the state level to passionately advocate for wellness programs, policies, and resources for the first responder community.

Michael is a clinical and forensic psychologist in private practice in Northern Virginia. He served as a federal law enforcement officer for more than two decades, including 13 years as Chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit for the United States Marshals Service, before retiring in 2021. His professional experience before coming to Virginia includes work in Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, and North Carolina in several county jails and state prisons, a juvenile detention center, and two federal prisons. He was a volunteer firefighter in North Carolina for three years and was an Emergency Medical Technician in Oklahoma for two. An active researcher, Michael has published numerous articles on vicarious trauma, and he recently co-edited and published a handbook for clinicians who work with first responders.