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| Safe Call Now's Captain Brian Nanavaty |
Safe Call Now® and the Importance of Peer Support and
Mentoring
“If you say to one flower, ‘Grow,’ but you water another, the first one
won’t grow.” ~ Stephen Covey, The 8th Habit
The first line of
defense against employee failure is the recognition of the first stages of peer
crisis and by providing early intervention. Even better is to provide support
from the first day of hire. This is difficult in the public safety environment
for many reasons. Public safety employees are not trusting of individuals
outside their peer groups. Public safety employees have heard hollow promises
ad nauseam from those claiming to want to help. Public safety employees can
quote horror stories of peers who have stepped forward for help only to face
agency sanction or loss of employment. Public safety employees don’t want to
appear weak by admitting they need help. And yes, public safety employees
sometimes are too smart for their own good and resist attempts from
well-intentioned peers unless it is already part of their agency culture.
Agencies with healthy
active peer support and mentoring teams can successfully reduce the onset and
life cycle of employee distress through a combination of proactive and reactive
responses. Mentors are trained to work with new employees and coach them
through the rough patches of early career. Peer support members help by responding
to critical incidents or employee personal or professional crisis. Peer support
members and mentors work in partnership to ensure long term support for peer
employees and their families through a deliberate and cooperative design.
