What is compass?
Responding to your needs as first responders
The Compass project was designed with you, the first responder, in mind. For numerous years, you have supported and assisted the community without the proper training and resources required to do your job. Compass is here to not only provide you and your families with self-care activities such as yoga, pottery, cooking classes, massage therapy and dance classes (although those are great!), but to strengthen and maintain your overall wellness. We can do this in many ways- first and foremost, by asking you. You can give feedback on Compass by participating in focus groups, taking surveys, attending activities and giving anecdotal feedback, and evaluating trainings.
Helpful Links
Compass is a tool for you
The Compass project addresses compassion fatigue/burnout using a variety of different methods.
- Listening: Through focus groups and feedback, Compass is integrating first responders into decision-making and designing self-care and training approaches, building trust in a process through which your needs and ideas are heard.
- Caring: Compass is furnishing first responders with self-care tools designed to promote healthy behavior changes and offering appreciation activities designed to provide much-needed relief, including massages, yoga, discounted getaways, and family cooking and pottery classes.
- Treating: Compass is embedding mental health professionals in a new “wellness coordinator” role within first response departments to provide a trusted source of mental health resources and referrals for treatment.
- Training: Compass is addressing the lack of evidence-based, compassion fatigue training models tailored to substance use crises by bringing together mental health and first response experts to develop, modify and implement trainings for first responders and community members.
- Adapting: Giving first responders a seat at the table is leading to impactful policy changes and strengthening collaboration between agencies working on opioid epidemic solutions.
- Sharing: Huntington is using this platform as a nationally recognized leader in opioid crisis response to help other struggling communities to follow this participatory model.
- Belonging: Representatives from HPD and HFD are leading the Compass initiative by sitting on the Advisory Team and are an integral part of bringing your voices to the table. Lieutenant Phil Watkins and Lieutenant Steve McCormick are advocating on your behalf for a comprehensive model of wellness services.