In the Social and Health Administration of Gladsaxe Municipality, employees have been working with the Institute’s digital basic course in psychological first aid. For them, the course was especially helpful in situations where everyday work can be stressful: How do we best support a colleague experiencing a crisis reaction – and how do we prevent stress from accumulating over time?

Service Manager Sannie Ransby highlights the Support Pyramid and the Four Lines as concrete tools from the course that make it easier to gain an overview, prioritize, and act in a timely manner – without acting too quickly, too individually, or too randomly.

"The course has given us a shared language and a common framework for how we talk about and manage crises," she says, continuing: siger hun og fortsætter:

"I was surprised at how quickly the course – the digital basic course in psychological first aid – created a shared focus and psychological safety. It meant that, during the course itself, we began automatically translating theory into concrete solutions for ourselves, for example how we handle crises on weekends, evenings, and nights, and how we train our substitutes."

In the Social and Health Administration, the course has also initiated concrete changes that make it easier to break away from the "negative politeness culture," where people wait for someone to ask for help – instead, employees now reach out proactively. At the same time, they are clarifying internal procedures and roles: Who does what when an incident occurs? And how do you ensure both peer support, managerial support, and professional help when needed?

Sannie Ransby describes it this way:

"Psychological first aid is a team sport that creates psychological safety and helps ensure that crisis reactions are taken seriously – before, during, and after an incident. It is a shared responsibility to notice signals and reactions, and to support each other afterward, so that both the individual employee and the team as a whole can move forward effectively."

Read more about our digital foundation course in psychological first aid here