Mental Wellness Training for First Responders in Colorado

Status: Code 4, Inc. (SC4i) provides mental wellness training and education for first responder agencies across Colorado, covering topics from PTSI (Posttraumatic Stress Injury) recognition to suicide prevention and peer support certification. Training is customized to each department's needs and delivered to paid and volunteer public safety agencies statewide.

Training offered by SC4i

SC4i's Mental Wellness Training program is built as tailored 2 to 40 hour sessions, shaped around an informal pre-training needs assessment for each department. Topics include:

PTSI recognition and signs and symptoms
Depression and anxiety awareness
Suicide prevention
Peer support certification
Resiliency training
Financial stress management
Physiological response to fear and stress

A key offering is Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), a two-day certification delivered in partnership with the Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership.

Who this training is for

Training is available to any Colorado public safety agency, paid or volunteer, including police, fire, EMS, and dispatch departments. Agencies can also open sessions to employees' adult loved ones, and SC4i offers recurring department-wide programming on a quarterly or biannual basis for departments that want ongoing engagement rather than a one-time session.

Why this training matters

The need is significant. Over 90% of Colorado departments have less than $8,500 budgeted annually for mental wellness training, and 46% of agencies have no mental health budget at all. Meanwhile, national research on first responders finds 80% cite stigma as a barrier to seeking care, and 78% worry peers will view them as unreliable if they do (Jacobowitz et al., 2025, NYS First Responder Mental Health Needs Assessment). Training that normalizes these conversations at the department level is one of the most direct ways to lower that barrier before a crisis point.

What departments and participants say

SC4i has delivered 227 mental wellness training classes to 2,550 attendees across 63 organizations statewide since 2017, with four Regional Peer Support Teams established in El Paso, Teller, Park, and Douglas Counties as a result. In post-training surveys, 67% of sessions were rated "Excellent," 22% "Very Good," and 11% "Good," with zero ratings of "Not Good" or "Waste of Time."

Participants have described the training as directly applicable to their work, with several noting it changed how they'd approach a coworker they were concerned about or how they'd handle coming home after a difficult call.

How to bring this training to your department

Contact SC4i at (719) 822-3387 or contact@sc4i.org to schedule a needs assessment and discuss training options for your agency.