FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – A report is finding firefighter and EMS suicides are on the rise.
At least 115 firefighters and emergency medical workers committed suicide across the nation in 2017, more than those who died in the line of duty,
The Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, which tracks figures across the nation, has seen the number of documented suicides rising since around 2005.
Suicides exceeded 100 each year from 2014 to 2017, according to the BHA, with longer fire seasons, more frequent mass casualty events and increased strain on emergency workers, taking its toll.
“For wild land firefighters it’s a little bit of a different game”, said Fresno Fire Battalion Chief Thomas Cope. “Here in the West Coast, Cal Fire and the Forest Service – the Federal firefighters – are experiencing a much greater workload, and greater stress,” said Chief Cope. “They actually have reduced staffing from say 25 years ago, so that is certainly an issue.”
A report by the Ruderman Family Foundation and federal data shows the suicide rate among such emergency workers has been estimated at 18 per 100,000 people, exceeding the rate in the general population of 13 per 100,000.
Battalion Chief Cope recalls that the last time a firefighter committed suicide in Fresno was in the 1990’s but suicide is something that he says is under-reported.
“We used to sort of ignore it or downplay it or there was a stigma attached to talking about behavioral health issues, because we’re seen as tough guys or heroes and vulnerable to the stresses of the job and that’s simply not the case, said Chief Cope. “We’re as human as the next person.”
In the last 15 years, Chief Cope says they have become more aware of the job on their behavioral and mental health – the slow cumulative effect of stress on each other.
“It’s what clinicians call cultural context, said Chief Cope, “we understand what its like to be a firefighter because we are firefighters.”
It was the injury of Fresno Fire Captain Pete Dern that really brought firefighter behavioral health to the forefront, said Chief Cope.
On March 29, 2015, Captain Dern responded to a call alongside other firefighters but he ended up falling through a garage roof into the blazing inferno below when the roof collapsed.
He was burned over 70% of his body.
Fresno firefighters came together after the Cortland incident and Chief Cope says the department as a whole saw increased awareness and training for behavioral health support.
Chief Cope is involved with Fresno Fire’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team, and Fresno Fire investing more organizational efforts to address that threat, and the stigma attached to behavior health issues.
Fresno Fire has an emphasis on peer support — training firefighters to take care of each other, and intervene when needed.
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
