This study reports a subset of findings from a larger study that examined the emotional impacts of the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake on 20 teachers, who functioned as first responders when the earthquake struck in the middle of a normal school day. This qualitative study investigated the emotion regulation strategies employed by these teachers in the early moments of the earthquake in order to manage their own fears and ensure the safety of the students in their care. The study drew on the methods of Sutton ("Soc Psychol Educ" 7(4):379-398, 2004. doi:10.1007/s11218-004-4229-y) where teachers retrospectively reported the emotion regulation goals and strategies used in real-life school scenarios. The Christchurch teachers' emotion regulation goals and strategies for their peritraumatic fear in the first moments of the earthquake were in alignment with previous research. Strategies that teachers normally use to ensure they present a calm and professional image in the presence of strong negative emotion underpinned the regulation of these teachers' fears elicited at the moment of the earthquake. Exposure to multiple episodes of trauma also appears to have elicited emotion regulatory choices similar to those of professional first responders dealing with extreme trauma on a regular basis. The teachers' attributions and ways of reporting their experiences resonated with emotional labor and emotion work perspectives, and demonstrated their commitment to caring for their students as their priority goal.