EXPERIENCE OF SYSTEM

OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICE OF
CZECH FRS

Zuzana Dittrichová
Martina Wolf Čapková
Fire & Rescue Service of the Czech Republic
General Directorate
1
Psychological Service of F&R Service of
the Czech Republic
• established in 2003
• great importance in selection and stress preparation
of firefighters

 General Directorate:
1 head psychologist, 1 psychologist,
1 assistant
 14 departments in the Czech Republic:
1 psychologist in each department (+ 1 assistant in
departments with psychodiagnostic laboratory),
1 psychologist in Emergency unit of FRC CR
Main tasks of psychological service

1. Basis for personnel work and service.

2. Post-traumatic care for members of F&R Service (including

counseling and therapy).

3. Psychosocial support of people affected by the emergency

situations.
Psychodiagnostics

 There is standardized psychodiagnostic methodology to

set the common applicants’ minimal level of personal
qualities – 5 psychodiagnostic laboratories.

 - select
 firefighters,
 fire truck
 drivers and
 commanders
Psychological training

Firefighters are coached to cope with potentially stressful

events by basic training and regular education training
including psychological courses (Critical Incident Stress
Management, psychological first aid etc.).
Teams of post traumatic intervention
care of F&R Service
In the Czech republic, psychological care is stated in the law
about security forces.

Internal norms of Fire & Rescue Service about psychological

care and about peer-support system.

14 regional teams of post traumatic intervention care,

1 Emergency unit team
 regional coordinators – relevant regional psychologists
 central coordination – head psychologist of F&R Service
Peers = volonteers

Interview before acceptation to the system of training with

each candidate :
 aims:
1. Uncover motivation
2. Find out knowledge of peer support system
3. Uncover soft skills – self-relfection
- emotional stability
- communication skills
- ability to solve problems
- ability to start contact other people

 the quality of personality of each peer-supporter is

important in addition to training and knowledge.
The qualifications of the peer supporter

 stable personality

 informal authority

 communications skills

 empathy

 sensitiveness but not hypersensitiveness

 responsable, selfcontained (independent)

 team worker

 trained
Peers are trained in:

 CISM (40 hours)

 First psychological aid I and II (20 hours and min. 16 hours)

+ 3 day training each year (theory, model situations, case

reports)
Number of peers

 Actual number - 270 peers

 Continuous progressive training of others firefighters

Ideal number – 1 peer in each workshift?

In Internal norms of Fire & Rescue Service about peer-support
system:

 List of potential traumatic events when the management or

commander should activate peers:
Potential traumatic events

 A health or life threatening situation

 An especially tragic event or a disaster
 A witnesses to victims of multiple injuries, cases of cruel
death
 A death of a colleague
 A deceased or seriously injured child
 A death of a victim of an accident during a rescue operation
 An unsuccessful rescue operation
 A sudden loss of shelter
 An intensive feeling of fear, helplessness or extreme
disgust
Lists of members of teams of peers in
each fire brigade station

 including - contact information

(telephone number, fire brigade
station, photograph)

- brief information about post

traumatic care
KONTAKTY Ještě několik kontaktů a odkazů,
TÝM
které můžete využít, pokud
postrádáte další informace a pomoc: POSTTRAUMATICKÉ
Tomáš Hradil PÉČE
Beroun
 Linka pomoc v krizi pro policii a
724 178 006 hasiče: 974 834 688

 Občanská poradna Remedium: HZS STŘEDOČESKÉHO

277 734 666
Stanislav Špaček
KRAJE
 Linka důvěry Centra krizové
Slaný
intervence: 284 016 666
608 983 420
Linka důvěry Riaps: 222 580 697

 Linka důvěry internetová:

Petr Karpíšek
info@help-psych.cz
Kolín
 www.obcanske-poradny.cz
724 076 829
______________________________________

Vít Jirásek

Kralupy nad Vltavou

603 200 750

KOORDINÁTOR

TÝMU POSTTRAUMATICKÉ PÉČE

Jiří Vonšovský
HZS STŘEDOČESKÉHO KRAJE

Kutná Hora
Kpt. PhDr. Eva Biedermannová
607 227 440
724 300 118 srpen 2009
Activities of peers

 Support for colleagues – colleague support, colleague

counselling, detection, alerting, advise for referral (liaison
to other care personnel), long-term monitoring etc.

 Psychosocial support of people affected by the emergency

situations – (first on-site of accident) - psychological first
aid, on accident site information dissemination, liaison to
other care personnel

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Regular field training
excercises
Peer with an unhurt passenger - figurant
Documentation of activities

 Record of activity of each peer

 Records of the coordinator

 Annual statistics
Communication with persons with
disability during emergency situations

 The service has recently focused attention on the specific

groups of people such as people with disabilities.

Methodical guidance

 Internal regulations - summary of basic procedures and

techniques

 Special needs of people with impairment

 Communication with people with impairment

Regular meetings with people with
disability
 E.g. meeting with children with visual impairment (letting
them touch fire fighter’s work equipment and also
acquainting with their specific world)

 Excursions for people with hearing impairment at the

operational (call) centres of the FRS
 Possibility to contact 112 line by SMS

 Possibility to contact 112 line by SMS in more and more cities

and regions

 The system is accessible after a registration of disabled person

with the use of a special telephone number
 Education of firefighters and other
employees
 Education is ensured especially by the Psychological Service
of FRS

 Basic course for beginners, special courses

 Regular education in the shifts

 Drills with participation of people with disability

 Drills for NGO´s

 Methodical DVD
 Project of the Psychological service and Team of post-
traumatic intervention care of FRS

 Simulated scenes, instructions how to communicate with

person with disability

 Focus on people with visual, hearing, mental and physical

disability
Contact

 Zuzana Dittrichová,
mobile: +420 602 705 947, email:
zuzana.dittrichova@grh.izscr.cz

 Martina Wolf Čapková,

mobile: +420 724 178 412, email:
martina.capkova@grh.izscr.cz

 Websites: www.hzscr.cz