First Responder Trauma Services, Inc.

First Responder Trauma Services (FRTS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity whose mission driven purpose is to serve those who spend their careers risking their lives for the safety and wellbeing of others. From the time a member of the public calls 911 for help, this population of employees and volunteers goes into action quickly to serve the public. Regardless of the time of day, these emergency response workers spend their time and talents serving the anonymous public on the worst days of their lives. FRTS stands ready to help these brave and caring women and men when they are experiencing their own worst days.

 First Responder Trauma Services is dedicated to supporting the lives of professional and volunteer first responders, including 911 operators, firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMS pre-hospital transport personnel, emergency room staff, physicians, criminal justice service workers, park rangers, Judicial District Attorney’s, coroners,  and their collective family members, by developing honest and empathetic peer support relationships across the 22 first response agencies we serve.  

 We strongly believe in the importance and efficacy of community outreach and have created a regional peer support team model, whereby active first responders receive specialized training to respond to fellow first responders and first response agencies in crisis 24/7/365.  

 We have united Northern Colorado’s tribe of first responders by creating a Regional Peer Support Team comprised of All Agency, All Badge, All Uniform, All Scrubs personnel. This is a network of over 100 culturally competent, trained peer supporters, all of whom have completed FRTC's proprietary 40-Hour National Peer Support Academy and are actively engaged in providing emergency services in Colorado’s Homeland Security Region 9. 

Many First Responders and Frontline Workers struggle with addiction, PTSI/D, and other medical and behavioral health issues. The micro and macro traumas they experience accumulate until the emotional and physical stress can no longer be tolerated. Traditional counseling can be challenging for both non-culturallycompetent clinicians and responders, as both are confronted with navigating the minefields of calls and tragic experiences, typically causing vicarious trauma to the counselor and disappointment to the responder if their issues are not quickly resolved. 

At FRTS "We get it because we have been there and done that," with over 500 collective years of frontline response experience. FRTS clinicians "know how it feels, because we have felt the same way," and we can show responders what we have found to successfully maneuver through similar minefields and live an enriched life. With burnout, addiction, divorce and suicide at all time highs, we as helpers and  community members need to provide more than empathy and understanding. We must ACT to fix the problems by leaning into them and creating better outcomes, not only for First Responders and Frontline Workers, but also better interactions and results for the public they serve.