MISSION

Provide aid and comfort to individuals, groups and communities impacted by violence, tragedy or traumatic events.

GOAL

K9FR Teams connecting and engaging with those impacted by psychological trauma, re-establishing emotional and cognitive equilibrium, and fostering resilience.

OBJECTIVES

• Educate handlers in Psychological First Aid, Critical Incident Stress Management, Psychological Trauma Stress Management and Resilience as well as State/Federal mobilization and deployment protocols.
• Train K9FR Teams to be effective Critical Incident Mental Health Support members.
• Raise awareness regarding the effectiveness of the K9 First Responder model.
• Promote a unified education, training and response standard that organizations, agencies, counties and municipalities can rely upon when integrating CIMHS dog teams into their response plans.
• Expand the network of therapy dog groups and organizations using the K9 First Responder model to increase the number of local and statewide resources available to mobilize and deploy.