Three-day mental health training available to first responders, families

KINGSTON, N.Y. (NEWS10) – September is suicide prevention month and down in Ulster County mental health resources are available to first responders, and their families, starting on Thursday. The training aims to help frontline workers deal with anxiety, PTSD, and suicide. 

Experts said they want to help first responders by reducing the stigma around suicide and mental health. That’s why a nationally accredited stress intervention training will be happening at the Ulster Savings Bank (180 Schwenk Drive, Kingston, N.Y. 12401).

Code 9 Project will host the two-day interactive training for law enforcement, fire, emergency services and veterans September 25 – 26. 

“Our mission is to stop the suicides. They keep increasing and they keep increasing because the stigma of receiving help is still in 2025, very, very, very prevalent,” said Brandilee Baker, the president and co-founder of Code 9 Project.

Director of Peer Support Gordon Smith is retired after 42 years in law enforcement. He explains how being exposed to trauma, long-term, can impact well-being. 

“It’s very detrimental. A lot of us try to just compartmentalize things and just shove them in a box and forget, try to forget about them. But they don’t ever go away. And the problem with that is that other things are going to happen. In the life of a first responder, there is another critical incident just around the corner, so you just continually stack them on top of each other again until that day comes where you just can’t handle it,” said Smith.

He advises people to get help, before life spins out of control. 

“And you just end up going crazy, off the rails, and then you have to seek additional help or you turn to other things to help you through the day, like alcohol, prescription drugs, other kinds of things that are very, very unhealthy,” said Smith.

Baker urges first responders struggling with mental health to reach out to their 24/7 peer support hotline 844-HOPE-247 and to attend the training.

“What I have seen is literal life changing transformations. Within two days, I’ve seen officers come in thinking that they’re getting education to help other officers, whether it be peer support leaders or commanders coming in to help their staff and in sitting in the seats and participating in the course, really registering with how much their own nervous systems were in need, unknowingly. And how they were on the brink of crisis without even being aware of it,” said Baker.

On Saturday, they’re hosting a special training for family members of first responders and support staff. He said it’s…

“Critical for them to help understand what their loved ones are going through. And we have had comments from people that have attended that family training. They come back and say, ‘You just saved my marriage,’ or ‘You just saved my husband’s life’,” said Smith. 

Again, first responders, and their families and support staff, can still register for this training. All they have to do is email code9project@gmail.com.

“Departments don’t wait for a crisis, inquiry about these trainings,” said Baker.