By Laura French
DALLAS — AT&T has announced the launch of the FirstNet Health & Wellness Coalition, a collaboration with more than two dozen public safety organizations that aims to address first responders’ physical and mental health needs.
The coalition consists of organizations representing a total of more than 1.3 million first responders, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), and was formed with the mission of integrating responder, community, industry and academic capabilities to support the health, wellness and readiness of the public safety community, according to a statement from AT&T.
“Nothing is more important than the lives of first responders and the people they serve day in, and day out. These are the men and women that run toward emergencies. And we understand the service public safety provides to our communities does not come without personal sacrifice and burdens,” the statement reads.
The coalition established six main priorities through input from more than 350 first responders: post-traumatic stress, depression and self-harm, physical fitness, stress management, responder resiliency and leadership engagement. The coalition will work to develop integrated approaches to raise awareness and identify technical solutions and applications to address these and other issues, according to AT&T.
FirstNet has previously sponsored the IACP Officer Safety & Wellness Symposiums for the past two years, and launched a collaboration with the All Clear Foundation last year to help increase the accessibility of education, resources and support to aid first responders struggling with health and wellness challenge.
More information about FirstNet’s health and wellness initiatives can be found on the FirstNet website.