Essay On Suicide Among Firefighters

Expert first response personnel make all the difference when it comes to saving lives and property; they realize failure is not an option in today’s highly volatile unforgiving world of disaster. Firefighters, police, military, medical as well as any other national/ international first responder are prime examples of people who give tirelessly all that they have, who work twenty-four hours a day, and who often find themselves hip-deep in blood and guts in order to mitigate the situation. These first response veterans aspire to save that one more life; they strive often even at the emotional expense of poorly kept energy reserves to pull people and property from the disaster, but at what cost? Is first response employees

In the article, “Undulation Training for Development of Hierarchical Fitness and Improved Firefighter Job Performance,” a research was conducted when a critical problem emerged from the extraordinary job risks of firefighting. In this article, it was recognized that firefighting was a high risk occupation in which many activities were life threatening. Yearly incidences brought on from these life-threatening activities and conditions included cardiovascular disease from the inhalation of smoke as well as musculoskeletal injuries from the physical demands of the job. The problem was lying in the fact most fire departments were failing to adequately prepare the firefighters in terms of health and physical fitness to take on the

Most firefighters are known to not be open with sharing how they feel because it can possibly ruin their reputation as a firefighter and in the firehouse. It was not until military personnel were presenting symptoms that are currently known to be associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Meroney presents the article with a list of the most common signs that can be observed in the firefighter. Signs such as substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts, and loneliness, once these signs are present try to talk with the firefighter and see what is affecting them. They need professional help to cure this disorder. The fire service is known to be a large family that watches out for each other, the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation created the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives. In which, number 13- behavioral health, this initiative helps prevents firefighter’s deaths. Meroney basically goes over the basics of

The Center for Disease Control maintains a national database of occupation related mortality. Known as the National Occupational Mortality Surveillance (NOMS), this database maintains the death certificate data from 28 states, greatly limiting the overall picture of the United States as a whole. The current Occupational Health and Safety and NOMS databases do not specifically segregate first responder job classes, yet lumps them into occupational codes that encompass occupations that are not relevant to first responders. Statistical data from NOMS (1994-1998) showed that police suicides were four times greater than firefighters and police suicides dwarfed homicides 2.36 times (Violanti, 2010). There are significant limitations in research related to first responder suicide rates as the

Law enforcement suicide is a problem that affects law enforcement agencies across the United States. No agencies, large or small, are immune to the possibility of an officer taking their own life. These deaths should be almost non-existent since they involve a community of people who have been found to be mentally healthy. By working to educate and support law enforcement, both through the department and by working with other organizations, agencies can greatly reduce the number of law enforcement suicides. The Grand Junction Police Department, while making strides in some areas, still has much work to do to implement an effective suicide prevention program.

One could say the Fire Service possess one unique quality about how it operates daily and that is the culture and the community that lies within every department. Culture is defined as defined by Miriam-Webster “the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations (Definition of Culture, 2017, para. 5).” The many diverse aspects of each department in still’s a variety of cultural differences separating one department from the next. At the heart of all departments, fire service culture is the men and women who work and train hard to serve their communities as prescribed by the Fire Chief. The Fire Chief, however,

Stressed by war and long overseas tours, U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year at the highest rate on record, the toll rising for a fourth straight year and even surpassing the suicide rate among comparable civilians. Army leaders said they were doing everything they could think of to curb the deaths and appealed for more mental health professionals to join and help out. Clearly, the military is going above and beyond to try and prevent further lives from being taken.

When an officer first decides that he or she would like to become a police officer, they are put through rigorous training, extensive background checks, and tedious mental and physical health exams in order to determine their level of fitness for the job. Being a police officer is a dangerous profession that can lead to repeated exposure to trauma and challenges that can cause stress in even the most well-trained individuals (Alicea, 2016). In 2014, more than 42,000 police officer suicides were counted (Clark and White, 2017). By recognizing the seriousness of police officer suicides and taking proactive steps towards addressing the issue, suicide rates would decrease and officers would be better suited to adapt to their stressful work conditions.

Among American civilians, whites have historically and significantly led the way in the rates of suicides. Although leveling off after the 1990’s, the rate of white suicides has still been almost twice as much as minority groups. It has also been shown that males commit suicide significantly more than females.

There is a significant health issue facing the public as well as law enforcement every day, suicide. The numbers surrounding suicide are shocking effects people of all backgrounds. In the year 2010 more than 38,000 adults committed suicide. Then in 2011 around 1 million adults admitted to attempting suicide, while 8 million had serious suicidal thoughts. Law Enforcement officers are at an even higher risk then most due to experiencing such a large number of risk factors. These factors include but are not limited to poor physical health, access to fire arms, domestic abuse, substance abuse, exposure to violence and suicide; depression, anxiety and other mental diseases. These factors lead to an above average number of officer suicides every

We are the most technically advanced nation in the free world but yet we have not been able to reduce the number of firefighter fatalities over the years. Its one of the great mysteries of the world today. Our gear is better than what they wore thirty years ago, its better than what they wore ten years ago and we still lose an average of one hundred firefighters every year. I know that not all are dying in structure fires but just one is one too many.

There are situations that impact your everyday life that’s when we call the “Firefighters”. Their lifestyle is risky, they serve the people. Firefighters truly deserve the respect and honor from the community, at the same time, this is a way of showing gratitude for their courage. The firefighter station that I visited was the fire department in San Fernando called “ Station 98”, and their agency is Los Angeles Fire Department, it has been around since 1886.

Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every time he or she puts on their uniform. For instance, it is quite emotional for the family of any law enforcement officer to see their loved one go to work and not know what their shift will entail. One way that a family could endure the emotions is to pray for their loved one who is in law enforcement. Whereas the officers’ job stress is at high levels so could their personal lives. Some studies in particular, show how family, friends, and the community treated by the officers could depend on the officers’ level of stress and how well positive adaptation occurs (Hille, 2009). Understanding that the law enforcement officers’ job is stressful enough, their home lives should not be. As of 2000, police officers were seven times more likely to commit suicide than other Americans. In addition, police officers had the third highest suicide rate among 130 U. S. occupations. According to the National Association of Police Chiefs, twice as many police officers took their own lives each year as have killed in the line of duty (“World of Criminal Justice, Gale Research,” 2002). This outcome stems from the outward show of how the officers deal with their job stress. For instance, some of the ways officers handle their stress could be drinking, physically abusing their wives or children, or acting carelessly on vacation or on a family outing. Although particular law enforcement officers put on the persona

Firefighters: Their job is to react when exhales are activated in an effort to control and extinguish their feelings. This is accomplished any numbers of way through alcohol or drug use, gambling, shopping, binge eating. We believe the firefighters are keeping us safe somehow however they are actuality obscuring our heart within us.

There are many issues within the military organization that require focus and resolve in order to maintain the superior fighting force that protects the homeland. Unfortunately solider suicide is one of those issues. Suicide is the deliberate taking of ending of one’s life. It is often associated with a severe crisis that does not go away, or may worsen over time (Warning Signs, n.d.). This issue requires knowledge and training to help protect fellow soldiers. The military organization has decided that required annual training be conducted to every person wearing the uniform. The goal of this training is to increase awareness of suicide risk factors, warning signs, and how to provide intervention to at-risk soldiers.