Enhancing Psychological Resilience
Tracks
Prince Room and Virtual via OnAIR
Monarch Room - In Person Only
Marquis Room - In Person Only
| Tuesday, March 3, 2026 |
| 8:45 AM - 9:15 AM |
| Prince Room |
Overview
Todd Wehr, Director of QAS Wellbeing
Details
Three Key Learnings:
Have an understanding of the how and why first responder organisations have had to continue to evolve to provide support to staff.
Have an operational framework to consider psychosocial safety in the workplace.
Identify how a systems approach is not only important but necessary to ensure broader staff and organisational wellbeing.
Have an understanding of the how and why first responder organisations have had to continue to evolve to provide support to staff.
Have an operational framework to consider psychosocial safety in the workplace.
Identify how a systems approach is not only important but necessary to ensure broader staff and organisational wellbeing.
Speaker
Mr Todd Wehr
Director Wellbeing
Queensland Ambulance Service | Department of Health | Queensland Government
Enhancing Psychological Resilience
Presentation Overview
The world and the workplace is becoming increasingly more complex. Frontline organisations around the world have had to continue to change and evolve to meet community demand.
Likewise, how we think about supporting staff within first responder organisations has also had to continue to evolve, with new research understandings and greater demand and expectations around individual and organisational wellbeing.
Currently, there is no one single solution, program or initiative that has been shown to prevent injury or illness within first responder organisations. However, this does not mean that there is nothing that can be done. Frontline organisations need to take a systems approach to supporting staff, ensuring that wellbeing is considered with every operational decision, weaving it into the very fabric of the organisation.
This presentation takes a journey across 3 decades of understanding psychological resilience in frontline work. As a firefighter studying psychology, then a Paramedic, then an ambulance staff counsellor and Director of the QAS Priority One Staff Support Program, and now QAS Director of Wellbeing, Todd unpacks what he has learnt about psychological resilience from his lived and professional experience in these frontline roles.
Likewise, how we think about supporting staff within first responder organisations has also had to continue to evolve, with new research understandings and greater demand and expectations around individual and organisational wellbeing.
Currently, there is no one single solution, program or initiative that has been shown to prevent injury or illness within first responder organisations. However, this does not mean that there is nothing that can be done. Frontline organisations need to take a systems approach to supporting staff, ensuring that wellbeing is considered with every operational decision, weaving it into the very fabric of the organisation.
This presentation takes a journey across 3 decades of understanding psychological resilience in frontline work. As a firefighter studying psychology, then a Paramedic, then an ambulance staff counsellor and Director of the QAS Priority One Staff Support Program, and now QAS Director of Wellbeing, Todd unpacks what he has learnt about psychological resilience from his lived and professional experience in these frontline roles.
Biography
Todd has spent the past 30 years working within first responder agencies, with the last 27 years within QAS. He is a registered Paramedic and registered psychotherapist and has spent over a decade running the internal Staff Support Employee Assistance Program Known as Priority One. This past year he has taken on a new challenge as the QAS Director of Wellbeing where he provides advice and strategic initiatives designed to prevent injury and promote staff wellbeing within the QAS.
In 2016 he was recognised on the Queen’s Birthday Honours List and received the National Ambulance Service Medal (ASM) for his work in supporting ambulance personnel and their families.
