How to Participate
Fire and emergency service departments should suspend all non-emergency activities during the week of June 15-21 to focus on training and education relating to this year’s theme – Break the Stigma: Behavioral Health RESET. Each department can choose how best to implement Safety Stand Down in a way that works for their members and based on their members’ schedules – such as daily activities each day of the week, weekly activities during the month, or establishing a plan to incorporate the topics into training and operations throughout the year. Consider designating a Safety Stand Down Champion to coordinate or facilitate the activities in your department.
Daily focus themes, events, one-pagers, and activity ideas are provided on this page to help you implement Safety Stand Down. Find additional resources and training for this year’s topic on the resources page of this site.
Josh Waldo, IAFC
Sarah Lee, NVFC
Jim Pauley, NFPA
Eric Valliere, FDSOA
Safety Stand Down Daily Topics
Each weekday during Safety Stand Down is dedicated to a specific focus area that aligns with this year’s theme. These daily topics are designed to guide your department through key aspects of the theme, encouraging meaningful discussions, training activities, and actionable steps to improve safety, health, and performance.
The NFPA, in coordination with the IAFC, NVFC, FDSOA, and IAFF, annually hosts an online Safety Stand Down Quiz to reinforce the messages behind the event’s theme. Those who take the quiz will be entered for the chance to win one of 200 limited edition Safety Stand Down challenge coins. Take the quiz now!
Safety Stand Down Events
Roundtable Talk: Get Ready for Safety Stand Down 2025
Watch the recording of this Roundtable Talk to learn about this year’s Safety Stand Down theme, challenges responders face, and strategies and practical tips for improving responder behavioral health.
The Firefighter Mindshift: Leading the Behavioral Health Reset
Watch the recording of this webinar from Lexipol to learn more about the framework of this year’s theme, how to promote mental wellness in the fire service, and explore the connection between mental health, performance, and leadership.
Better Every Shift Podcast: Hitting the ‘RESET’ Button on Behavioral Health
Listen to this episode of the Better Every Shift Podcast to learn how to maximize the 2025 Safety Stand Down in your department.
Creating and Maintaining Healthy Relationships for Fire Service Members
This webinar from the IAFF Center of Excellence will explore research on healthy relationships, discuss complications of relationships within the fire service, and provide practical skills for effective communication and emotional regulation in relationships for first responders, their partners, and family.
NVFC Training Summit
Taking place June 20-21 in Salt Lake City, UT, this in-person event from the NVFC brings together emergency responders from across the country for two days of classroom training, keynote presentations, and collaborative discussions. The agenda includes sessions focused on behavioral health and wellness among other topics.
Daily Theme One-Pagers and Videos
Each weekday during Safety Stand Down highlights a specific behavioral health topic as part of the RESET framework. Share these one-pagers and videos with crews and highlight during training to introduce the topic, promote discussion, and prompt action.
Overview
Recognize
Educate
Strategies
Empower
Training
Activity Ideas
Looking for ways to get your department involved in Safety Stand Down 2025? Check out these ideas to help you engage your team throughout the week. These suggestions align with the daily focus topics and encourage meaningful discussions, promote wellness, and reinforce training fundamentals. Get inspiration and practical ways to bring this year’s theme, Break the Stigma: Behavioral Health RESET, to life in your department.
Articles
Get inspired for Safety Stand Down with these articles.
- RESET Your Behavioral Health Initiatives During Safety Stand Down, by Chief Judy Thill for Fire Engineering
- As Firehouse Sees It: A Life Lost Despite the Signs of Suicide, by Peter Matthews for Firehouse
Testimonials
Submit Your Resources, Stories, and Photos
Click here to share your department’s safety and health resources, media coverage, activities you are planning for Safety Stand Down, and success stories from your department
Safety and Health Training
You can find on-demand training courses relating to this year’s theme on the Resources page of this site. Additional training includes the following:
Future Safety Stand Down Dates
Safety Stand Down is held annually during the third week of June.