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Death Communication®

Death Communication® is an on-demand, self-paced CAPCE-accredited online CE course that teaches you how to give clear, compassionate, and respectful death notifications to the survivors of deceased patients.

Enroll Now | $39
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Despite our best efforts, 90% of our cardiac arrest patients will die.

Frustratingly, death notifications training isn’t yet a standard part of state or national curriculum for first responders—or any healthcare professional. Emergency medical staff must often be the bearers of shocking and upsetting news, but the majority of us aren’t educated about the basic elements of a successful death notification. Our lack of training can have negative consequences for survivors, the organizations we represent, our own mental health, and the long-term resilience of our professional teams.

Death Communication® is the most sought after death notifications training resource created to remedy this gap in your training. Through psychology-backed death notification guidelines, examples, and practical “do’s and don’ts”, you’ll complete this CAPCE CE course with actionable knowledge of what survivors need most from you during and after a death notification. Plus, 3 CE credits!

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student reviews

real students.
Career-Changing
experiences.

Outstanding content related to dealing with death + PTSD
I'd suggest any EMS provider to review this content for CE's. It's very informative and well-structured. Dealing with dying patients and their families is not discussed enough and this course provides clarity on that subject end to end. I feel more confident now that I have the appropriate outline of dealing with patient death, my personal family death, and dealing with PTSD for myself and patients.

Daren K.

Very Necessary
"This is something that was not taught very much when I started in the 1980's, so people just didn't know how to handle it. It was mostly an attitude of "Suck it up". Now I see young people in the profession that have absolutely no clue about how to deal with other people, much less dealing with the trauma's of the job. Compassion is tough to teach, but this course may be a great tool in helping to get there."

Geraldine H.

Truly Amazing!
"After taking 2-3 other death notification courses throughout my career, this was hands down the best! Alex is extremely knowledgeable about this topic and she understands was public safety personnel go through with her background in EMS."

Casey H.

Great Course
"As a first responder being treated for PTSD, my therapist recommended this course. It has been a very informative and well put together course. I especially enjoyed listening to Bens story. I can attest that EMDR is similar to witchcraft in that it works like magic!!! I wish this was mandatory training for all our new recruits. Thank You "

Greg Z.

Reassuring and Insightful
"This program does a great job at not only providing new information on how to deal with death in the field but also what techniques are more effective than others. I like how the program gives guidelines on effective techniques and stays away from absolutes. The most impactful part of this program was the fact that communicating death does not always get easier and it is okay that it doesn't."

Dion P.

Should be required for all First Responders!
"I've worked in a mix of Fire/EMS and Law Enforcement for more than 30 years. This information was not provided to me in any way during initial education programs and was simply learned by trial and error for the first part of my career. All of the teachings contained within this program are 100% accurate and worthy of anyone whom works within the public safety world, even for awareness should you not be making notifications yourself directly."

Aaron W.

Where was this 20 years ago!?
"This is quite possibly the most helpful and useful course I have taken since Paramedic school. I can think of a dozen calls off the top of my head that would have gone so much differently had I known ANY of this information. I can also say with absolute certainty that I have a better understanding of what my husband was/is going through after losing his partner of 18 years to suicide. Saying thank you feels insignificant for what you have given me!"

Talia H.

Learned Many Valuable Tools
"This program has given me a new outlook and approach to dealing with others grief as well as my own. To take insight in my team and those present around me during trying times. Would recommend to all those who are in the medical or first responder field."

Angel M.

Great Class
"I've been a Paramedic for 20 years and no one has ever said how we are supposed to talk to or deal with families until this course. It was full of useful information and I think every first responder should take it!"

Pamela L.

UK Paramedic
"I just inhaled Alex's course on death communication. I am a UK based paramedic but really enjoyed and learnt a lot from this short course. I was left wanting more as it was fascinating! We also don't get taught a lot on dealth communication in the UK but it's getting better. I actually work in higher education and I'm going to try to get Alex involved in helping us develop this topic

Rose M.

Loved This Course!
"This course helped me with understanding the types of grieving and how the public/EMS providers experience the loss of loved ones. This was something I wish I had be taught early on in the field and I will continue to use this in my professional career. I would highly recommend this course to anyone that is new to the field or just starting out."

Garrett Y.

Great Course
"As a first responder being treated for PTSD, my therapist recommended this course. It has been a very informative and well put together course. I especially enjoyed listening to Bens story. I can attest that EMDR is similar to witchcraft in that it works like magic!!! I wish this was mandatory training for all our new recruits. Thank You "

Richard Q.

Loved this course
"This course was perfect and something I have been asking our Command Facilities for!! Now that PA has added the protocol to care for the patient in extremis in the field and even field termination, we as EMS folks need to know how to talk to the family about their loved one's death. This should be a MANDATORY curriculum for every first responder, paid and volunteer. I appreciate the research articles, TED Talks and other supplemental material that was evidence based. Keep this stuff coming."

Cynthia D.

Worth Every Penny
"This course was just WOW!! even made me cry and think about my own career and the calls I run on from day to day so many things resonated with me personally and professionally continue doing this maybe add a link or references for someone to talk to if recognized that we may need to talk to someone not within our own dept for me personally I'd feel more comfortable talking to someone not within my dept all in all loved your course thank you for doing the research and putting this together its definitely something everyone should take."

Jennifer V.

Great Course!
"This was a great course! As a 11 year paramedic, it was great to finally see a course that teaches on this difficult topic. I wish this had been around when I was brand new. It would have saved a lot of awkward moments for me, and probably made the conversation easier for the family of the deceased."

Jessica R.

Intense Emotional Rollercoaster
"I thoroughly enjoyed this course. as a first responder, I am an expert at hiding or suppressing my emotions and feelings. This course made me introduce myself to them and become friends... I found myself wanting more. I will take the education with me on every call from here on out. very well done. Thank you for creating this."

Jessica W.

You'll Learn...

  • How to deliver a 4-step death notification and how you can communicate more clearly and compassionately with family, survivors, and bystanders.
  • What you should NEVER say during a death notification and what to say instead. Plus, downloadable cheat sheets for easy reference!
  • Why proper handling of death notification is important—how it can impact outcomes for survivors, yourself, your team, and the agency or organization you represent.
  • How staying on-scene for a few minutes longer can help survivors find closure and feel more at peace with the outcome.
  • Special considerations, like handling pediatric death notifications or other sensitive situations.
  • How to identify different types of grief in survivors, yourself, and your colleagues. Grief takes many forms!
  • Natural physical and mental responses to grief that occur due to stress hormones.
Enroll Now | $39
comforting hand on the shoulder of a grieving family member

COURSE curriculum

Explore below to see what's included in this online CE course

1.1 Why It’s YOU’RE Job.

2.1 Grief Injury

2.2 Types of Grief

2.3 Ritual. Community. Oxytocin.

3.1 Needs of the First Responder

3.2 Needs of the Family/Bystander/Survivors

3.3 Stress and the Brain

4.1 Scene Variables

4.2 Pediatrics

4.3 Grief and the First Responder

5.1 What to Expect

5.2 Things to Do

5.3 Say This, Not That

5.4 Four Step Death Notification

B.1 Meet Ben

B.2 Deconstructing PTSD

B.3 EMDR, Proactive Solutions, and the Terrible Ten

Meet Your Instructor

Alexandra Jabr, PhD & EMT-P

Hey there!

I’m Alex, founder and lead instructor at Emergency Resilience. My journey in EMS started back in 2003, and over the years, I’ve worn many hats—EMT, paramedic, cardiac tech, EMS Coordinator, and EMS Educator.

After nearly 15 years in the field, I decided to dive deeper into the human side of our work. I earned a Master’s in Death, Grief, and Bereavement, followed by a Ph.D. in Depth Psychology. This gave me a richer understanding of the emotional and psychological challenges we face as first responders—and how we can protect our mental health to better serve our patients, grieving families, and our own teams.

It also served as the basis for this course, Death Communication! My passion is creating space in the CE world for courses that go beyond the usual “core training.” Because, let’s face it, career growth as a first responder is about so much more than CPR re-certs and NREMT refreshers.

I intend for Death Communication to help you be better prepared to give unfortunate news. When you have the tools you need, it can make even the hardest conversations a little more manageable.

Chat Soon,

Alexandra Jabr

online ce courses for groups

Purchase this course for your Agency, Organization, or Department

Educate and empower your team with our online CAPCE ce courses for groups! Each team member will receive their own unique login, CE credits, and certificate of completion. Plus, you can monitor progress to help your team stay on track toward their goals.

Have a unique need or challenge within your department that we don’t address in our training?

We also offer customized online and in-person trainings for groups, taught by our lead instructor, Dr. Alexandra Jabr.

Submit My Group Inquiry

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