About Us

First Responders United Inc. is an intensive five-day residential therapeutic and educational experience designed to help current and retired first responders recognize the signs and symptoms of work-related stress. This includes posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in themselves and others.

The program comprises a team of mental health professionals who were former first responders.

First responders from all backgrounds are welcome to participate in our five-day residential program.

Our Story

First Responders United is a five-day therapeutic retreat that has been developed by mental health professionals who were former first responders themselves. The combination of their lived experience as former first responders and their professional training as mental health professionals enables them to provide a therapeutic experience that specifically addresses the needs of first responders who have been injured as a result of operational or posttraumatic stress.

Our Approach

First Responders United retreats adhere to evidence-based psychological treatments that provide our participants with practical and effective therapy that facilitates new insights, self-care strategies, and sound decision-making practices, reducing the potential long-term impact of these operational stress injuries. In addition, we also provide our participants with an ongoing informal peer support network that enables them to stay connected with and support each other in their recovery.

We're all in this together - Artwork by Goldie Murray

The Objectives of First Responders United

To provide injured first responders with a focused treatment program that targets their PTSD symptoms and related difficulties.
- Guided by a team of experienced and compassionate professionals, peers, and volunteers, first responders focus on addressing their PTSD symptoms to enable them to return to healthy and meaningful living.
Promote awareness of psychological and physiological patterns and how they are connected.
Improve communication skills to repair and build relationships.
Establish a self-care plan to rebuild the participants’ inner resources and resilience.
Establish continuous peer-support connections to foster ongoing engagement and encourage participants to seek support from their coworkers, reducing stigma, and promoting mental health in the workplace.

The Benefits of First Responders United

This five-day residential retreat is led by mental health professionals who were former first responders and now volunteer their combined professional skills and lived experience towards providing a recovery program. They truly understand PTSD first-hand.
Affordable: The fact that this team of mental health professionals volunteer their services, enables First Responders United to provide this high-quality and affordable PTSD residential treatment program at a significantly reduced cost, several times per year.
- A small fee of $250 per day, is covered by most private health insurance companies.
- The fee of $1250 per participant for this five-day residential retreat includes meals, accommodations, reading material, and other resources.
Small Groups: Each five-day retreat has a maximum of 12 participants.
Separate sessions are held for men and women.
Focused and Specialized: Our retreat exclusively addresses PTSD in First Responders.
- This retreat is for firefighters, police officers, paramedics, correctional officers, 911 communications staff, parole officers, probation officers, physicians, and nurses, who have sustained operational stress injuries (posttraumatic stress) in their careers.
Acceptance: We welcome all First Responders, regardless of their financial situation.
- Any serving or retired first responder who does not have health insurance that covers psychological treatment can attend for only a small non-refundable deposit of $150 to hold their place at the retreat. All other meals, accommodations and resources will be provided for free.

Artwork

Daniel Sundahl, a paramedic/firefighter in Alberta, Canada, created the art featured on this site.
The artwork has been purchased to show our appreciation and understanding of the incredible work of First Responders and the individual emotions captured by the artist.

Daniel started his love of photography several years ago while teaching English in Egypt, Mexico, Indonesia, and Japan. As his technique developed he produced a blend of photography and graphic art called Photo Art. The majority of Daniel’s work involves emergency services and motorsport photography. Almost all of his pieces are produced on large format metal or bamboo. He is a published artist and one of his images was featured in Photo Life magazine. Daniel enjoys combining the technical and artistic elements of his work. Each piece can take several days or weeks of processing until he feels it’s ready.

You can see more of Daniel's work here: https://www.dansunphotos.com/