Recent national tragedies of hurricanes, mass shootings, gun violence in schools, wild fires, and mudslides have drawn our attention to the trauma of affected individuals and schoolchildren, but less to the stressors of first responders. While commonly regaled as "heroes," responders face a scarcity of systemic and tailored mental health support. First responders are susceptible to witnessing a wide array of traumatic events, often in their own communities, that contribute to their stress (Benedek, Fullerton, & Ursano, 2007;Castellano & Plionis, 2006;Kleim & Westphal, 2011). This article critiques systemic resources for first responders' mental healthcare; addresses their personal-social characteristics as well as workplace cultural stigma about help-seeking attitudes; and includes a needs assessment of first responders' resilience that was conducted by one of the authors (Roysircar, 2008a). Using this evidencebased practice knowledge about first responders, the authors present three hypothetical vignettes that highlight the different challenges that commonly effect first responders and recommend interventions. The authors advocate for access to specialized resources that enhance first responders' preparedness for a potentially traumatic event (i.e., prevention education); increase their coping skills and social connections after an event (i.e., postvention service); and provide ongoing mental healthcare (i.e., treatment) that is culturally tailored to first responders' unique needs arising from their work context and identity. Public Significance StatementThe information included may be beneficial to mental health providers who are considering acting as first responders, treating first responders, and/or engaging in healthcare access and reform.

The study examined the relationships among resilience, self-care, self-compassion of first responders. In addition, the study assessed the contributions of protective and risk factors to responders' resilience and disaster response competencies. Five research hypotheses and three research questions were examined with Pearson r correlations, multiple regressions, one t-test, one MANOVA, and post hoc tests, showing significant and meaningful results. In addition, the internal consistency reliabilities of the DRCQ scales were investigated which were strong to very strong. It was hypothesized and shown that there were significant positive relationships among self-care, self-compassion, and resilience. A second hypothesis was retained that the two dimensions of self-care (i.e., self-care practices and physical safety) were predictors of self-compassion. Responders who consciously observed self-care practices fostered and strengthened self-compassion and vice versa.