Tag Archives: firefighters and mental health issues

What Stress Does to Your Body—And Why

When you respond to any emergency, you’re first task is doing a good size-up: What has happened, what’s currently happening, and what will continue to happen without intervention? Every firefighter learns that starting in their entry-level training and it’s a basic part of most training for the rest of your career. But nobody taught you how to ask those same questions of yourself when YOU are the emergency, right? Or what interventions you need to take when you’re under the influence of stress. Well, we’re going to see about rectifying that in this article.

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What’s the atmosphere in your firehouse?

How does one of those Alpha males "open their soul" to their comrades who earlier in the day or the previous shift were "fighting" with them for dominance that day? How does a more introverted male or a woman or a male of color get the understanding ear that they seek as they try to deal with a particularly stressful incident or post-traumatic stress in general?

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What the Fire Service Needs from Mental Health Professionals and Vice Versa

Firefighter mental health

The effects of post-traumatic stress (PTS) and job-related stress (because PTS is not the only source of stress) on firefighters and EMS personnel is one of biggest challenges facing individuals and their departments. And it’s a challenge for which many of those individuals and their departments are ill-equipped to handle on their own. But that doesn’t mean the challenges can’t be overcome. It’s just going to take a new way of thinking.

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