Programme launched to better support officers with trauma
1 October 2021
An intervention programme has been launched to better support officers across the country after they attend traumatic incidents.
Representatives from Oscar Kilo, known as the National Police Wellbeing Service, spoke at this year’s virtual Roads Policing Conference.
They explained that the initiative came after a national wellbeing survey revealed that different forces deliver varying standards of support for officers.
In response, Oscar Kilo is now helping to raise standards of occupational health across forces countrywide.
Inspector Neil Collinson said: “Our attendance at traumatic events is almost routine now and without appropriate support, long-term exposure can lead to negative effects on wellbeing. We want to make sure the right support is in place for officers and recognise this is a real issue.”
Working with Public Health England, it launched the Emergency Services Trauma Intervention Programme (ESTIMP) in April this year. The programme focuses on early intervention.
The service was first piloted in Thames Valley Police and was rolled out more widely after its success.
Oscar Kilo is also delivering a psychological risk management programme to coincide with this to help forces reduce the risk of psychological ill-health within the workforce.
Liz Eades, Oscar Kilo occupational health adviser, said: “We know policing is a demanding job. I don’t think you can be a police officer and not expect to have some psychological detriment, so we have to manage officers’ health and monitor that.”
The programme has helped forces identify officers who are struggling with their mental health due to issues such as anxiety, depression, PTSD and burn-out. In turn, they can then improve the mental health support they offer to officers by benchmarking.
Through the assessments they have also been able to pinpoint higher-risk groups such as serious collision investigators.
