By: Ashley Mackey
It’s mid-afternoon and there’s a rollover crash on I-17 highway. There are two adult females and five children under the age of 10, all unrestrained, no car seats. The mother is pronounced dead at the scene by fire officials.
Ray Maione, Captain with Phoenix Fire, recounted this story and expressed how stories like these are not uncommon.
“High-stress incidents like these happen at least 100 times a day, just in the city of Phoenix,” Maione said. “You see all these children thrown all over the highway in the middle of the afternoon and we have to be professional and strong enough mentally to treat them and do what we’re trained to do.”
Peter Haugen wrote in Clinical Psychology Review “First responders are generally considered to be at greater risk for full or partial post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than most other occupations because their duties routinely entail confrontation with traumatic stressors,”
Matthew Tull, Ph.D., wrote on VeryWell.com, a health and wellness website, that studies have found up to 37 percent of firefighters meet the current criteria of a PTSD diagnosis.
Maione said the “five-to-six” suicides of firefighters and retirees, within “six-to-seven” months that occurred in 2010, showed an obvious trend within the department.
“That’s when the locals realized, ‘Hey, we have a problem here. We need to start addressing this and that’s what we did,” Maione said.
Since then, the Phoenix Fire Union has developed an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) called FireStrong.org, designed to help firefighters with PTSD symptoms before it can develop into a full disorder.
Kristen Wheldon, a Los Angeles Fire Department psychologist, said websites like FireStrong are great for getting the conversation started. However, she believes more behavioral studies directly related to fire services is what will make the difference.
“We don’t talk about any of the other mental health issues that are predominant in our field because there’s not a lot of honor in being diagnosed with depression. There’s not a lot of honor in being diagnosed with generalized anxiety. There’s not a lot of honor in being diagnosed with substance abuse disorder,” Wheldon said.
It’s mid-afternoon and there’s a rollover crash on I-17 highway. There are two adult females and five children under the age of 10, all unrestrained, no car seats. The mother is pronounced dead at the scene by fire officials.
Ray Maione, Captain with Phoenix Fire, recounted this story and expressed how stories like these are not uncommon.
“High-stress incidents like these happen at least 100 times a day, just in the city of Phoenix,” Maione said. “You see all these children thrown all over the highway in the middle of the afternoon and we have to be professional and strong enough mentally to treat them and do what we’re trained to do.”
Peter Haugen wrote in Clinical Psychology Review “First responders are generally considered to be at greater risk for full or partial post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than most other occupations because their duties routinely entail confrontation with traumatic stressors,”
Matthew Tull, Ph.D., wrote on VeryWell.com, a health and wellness website, that studies have found up to 37 percent of firefighters meet the current criteria of a PTSD diagnosis.
Maione said the “five-to-six” suicides of firefighters and retirees, within “six-to-seven” months that occurred in 2010, showed an obvious trend within the department.
“That’s when the locals realized, ‘Hey, we have a problem here. We need to start addressing this and that’s what we did,” Maione said.
Since then, the Phoenix Fire Union has developed an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) called FireStrong.org, designed to help firefighters with PTSD symptoms before it can develop into a full disorder.
Kristen Wheldon, a Los Angeles Fire Department psychologist, said websites like FireStrong are great for getting the conversation started. However, she believes more behavioral studies directly related to fire services is what will make the difference.
“We don’t talk about any of the other mental health issues that are predominant in our field because there’s not a lot of honor in being diagnosed with depression. There’s not a lot of honor in being diagnosed with generalized anxiety. There’s not a lot of honor in being diagnosed with substance abuse disorder,” Wheldon said.
Because of the stressful nature of their job, first responders are at a greater risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndromes, or PTSD.
Wheldon, who is one of five full-time psychologists working with a fire department in the U.S., has other worries of rising cases of PTSD.
“My biggest fear is just creating anxiety around PTSD to the point where it increases PTSD, because if you think you’re going to get it, you’re much more likely to get it,” Wheldon said.
Phoenix firefighter, Brian French, believes the FireStrong website has a positive impact on his community.
“We’ve helped hundreds of firefighters who’ve had suicidal ideas and in 2017 we’ve had no cases of suicides,” French said.
French, who has a master’s in counseling psychology, dedicates his time on the fire department to helping his peers as a consultant and peer group leader in the Behavioral Health Assistance Program.
“It’s hard having to cope with the job on your own. And it spills over into your family life and into your marriages,” French said.
According to Maione, firefighters have one of the highest divorce rates of any other occupation.
Anne Gaglianoi wrote on FireEngineering.com, “The divorce rate for firefighters is three times that of the general population, which is the highest rate in the nation, second only to that of the military.”
“It’s hard to not bring home the things that we see, every day, for 30 years. And that’s always a constant struggle with relationship issues,” Maione said.
According to Maione, The FireStrong website gets about 8,500 to 9,000 visits per month. The website offers counseling on marriage, finances and many other issues that firefighters may face. FireStrong has expanded its membership to include firefighters in Canada, in addition to those in the U.S.
“My biggest fear is just creating anxiety around PTSD to the point where it increases PTSD, because if you think you’re going to get it, you’re much more likely to get it,” Wheldon said.
Phoenix firefighter, Brian French, believes the FireStrong website has a positive impact on his community.
“We’ve helped hundreds of firefighters who’ve had suicidal ideas and in 2017 we’ve had no cases of suicides,” French said.
French, who has a master’s in counseling psychology, dedicates his time on the fire department to helping his peers as a consultant and peer group leader in the Behavioral Health Assistance Program.
“It’s hard having to cope with the job on your own. And it spills over into your family life and into your marriages,” French said.
According to Maione, firefighters have one of the highest divorce rates of any other occupation.
Anne Gaglianoi wrote on FireEngineering.com, “The divorce rate for firefighters is three times that of the general population, which is the highest rate in the nation, second only to that of the military.”
“It’s hard to not bring home the things that we see, every day, for 30 years. And that’s always a constant struggle with relationship issues,” Maione said.
According to Maione, The FireStrong website gets about 8,500 to 9,000 visits per month. The website offers counseling on marriage, finances and many other issues that firefighters may face. FireStrong has expanded its membership to include firefighters in Canada, in addition to those in the U.S.