Our Peer Support Group was originally formed shortly after September 11, 2001, for the purposes of addressing Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) in the City and County of Denver Combined Communications Center.
In the past seven years, the group transformed itself to not only address CISM, but also to educate our co-workers in the areas Stress Management as a whole, personal, family and professional challenges, grief and a host of other areas.
In 2004, the Peer Support group for this agency became the Civilian Peer Support Group (CPSG), began instructing Stress Management for newly hired 911 Operators and Police Dispatchers. We began conducting CISM debriefings after critical incidents, and personal one-on-one advisement sessions with any member of this agency, sworn personnel, and even family members.
With the support of the Denver Police Peer Support Group and the contract psychological services for the department, each member of the Denver 911 CPSG receives over 40 hours of classroom training and on going training in the areas of Burn Out, Grief Counseling, Personal and Professional Stress Management and Peer Support leadership classes.
Currently our group consists of 10 Peer Support Advisors, to include the Coordinator and the Assistant Coordinator. We became an inter-agency group with the addition of an advisor from the Denver Health Paramedic Division and continue to serve our co-workers through out the center in a completely confidential and professional manner with the support of our management team.