Unit 3 Law Enforcement Response First Offender Psychological Assistance During a disaster or national crisis, police officers are among the first responders. By virtue of their work, they arrive in the scene to curb continuation of the crisis or to help those in the disaster. In a crisis, police officer experiences mental health issue as first responders; therefore, adequate information about mental healthcare is vital to their recovery. Examples of mental health experience law enforce encounter include Line of Duty Death (LODD) and Post-shooting Trauma in Law Enforcement (PSTLE). There are various methods that first responders can get relevant mental health resources as well as psychological assistance as a result of a disaster. Before law enforcement officer gets employed, they undergo intensive training regarding their roles and responsibilities. The training sessions are the best platform to disseminate information about mental health resource and psychological assistance available. Notably, law enforcement officer participates in various training sessions, which introduces them to the risks associated with their discipline besides mental health screening programs. The department can use that chance to point out to individuals what resource they can employ to ensure they do not have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Training provides the knowledge about psychological assistance and mental health resources available as ideally, training begins during induction and continues throughout law enforcer’s professional career. Similarly, whenever a crisis occurs, a police officer may get psychological assistance and mental health resource through on-scene support services, follow-up services, or post-incident services offered by a mental specialist within the police department. Given that some crises are unpredictable, pre-crisis training may not have happened. Therefore, if the police officer gets....
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