Skip Navigation

Brought to you by: Stanford University Libraries Sign In as Personal Subscriber

Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention Advance Access originally published online on January 4, 2006
Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 2006 6(1):66-78; doi:10.1093/brief-treatment/mhj004
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
6/1/66    most recent
mhj004v2
mhj004v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ussery, W. J.
Right arrow Articles by Waters, J. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Ussery, W. J.
Right arrow Articles by Waters, J. A.

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Original Article

COP-2-COP Hotlines: Programs to Address the Needs of First Responders and Their Families

   William J. Ussery, MA, LPC
   Judith A. Waters, PhD, LPC

From COP-2-COP, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway (Ussery) and the Department of Psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham/Madison Campus (Waters)

Contact author: William J. Ussery, COP-2-COP, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854. E-mail: usserywj{at}umdnj.edu.

This article delineates the factors that have long contributed to the high rate of stress-related disorders in "first responders," those frontline professionals responsible for the safety and security of the public (law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency service personnel). It covers the rationale for COP-2-COP, a unique program designed to address the mental health needs of a high-risk population, its history, its components, and outcomes. This state funded program is a crisis intervention "helpline" for first responders, and their families, providing peer support, clinical assessment, referrals to mental health practitioners with relevant experience, and Critical Incident Stress Management. We begin with two newspaper reports of actual cases and end with four fictional case studies that reflect a composite of typical symptoms experienced by clients contacting one of the COP-2-COP hotlines. These cases are presented along with the special programs that were designed to address the consequences of the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. Fortunately, COP-2-COP was already in place and prepared to act in response to the impact of a trauma of unprecedented magnitude.

KEY WORDS: trauma, stress, law enforcement, police, firefighters, emergency service personnel, September 11, 2001






Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.