Rio Rico (AZ) Medical & Fire District (RRMFD) is a career department made up of 51 members. During the 2024 Safety Stand Down, they paused their regular trainings to focus on the theme, Fire Training: Back to Basics.

Chief officers, support staff, and captains were each assigned a day to deliver a presentation to their shifts based on that day’s focus area. Members who were not able to attend the presentations could view them online. RRMFD made the daily training fun by adding in a game in which individuals could compete for prizes – which were snacks. They also brought in a local therapist who specializes in first responder mental health for one of the presentations.

The department saw much success with the leadership-led trainings and plans to use this structure in future Safety Stand Downs. In the meantime, they are actively working on creating standard operating guidelines for members’ mental health.