PSD Study Guide 2026

For a peer support program to be effective, personnel must trust that they can speak openly without fear of their conversations being reported to management or used against them. Strict confidentiality is the cornerstone of this trust. It creates a safe space for individuals to discuss stress and personal issues with a trained peer who understands the unique pressures of the job.

Unified Command is an ICS structure used when an incident involves multiple jurisdictions or agencies. It allows all agencies with responsibility for the incident to jointly manage it by establishing a common set of objectives and strategies. A hazmat spill on a highway affecting multiple jurisdictions is a perfect example, as it requires a coordinated effort from fire, police, EMS, and environmental agencies from different areas.

A Common Point of Reference (CPR) is a well-known landmark or location that is easily identifiable by the public and responders. Using CPRs is an effective technique to pinpoint a location when a specific street address is unknown or not applicable, such as in a park or large public area.

A silent call could be from someone who cannot speak or make noise, such as during a home invasion, or from a person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired. The standard procedure is to perform a TDD/TTY query to determine if the caller is attempting to communicate via a text device.

The 'duty to act' is a legal concept that requires a dispatcher to take action and provide service once a call for help is received. Basing the decision to not dispatch on a subjective judgment (like perceived intoxication) is a breach of that duty and can lead to severe liability. All requests for emergency medical service must be taken seriously and handled according to protocol.

The standard greeting is the agency's name or abbreviation, followed by '911', and then 'GA', which stands for 'Go Ahead'. This immediately signals to the silent caller that they have reached a TDD/TTY-equipped call taker and invites them to begin typing their message.