Fire officials across Illinois discuss mental illness among firefighters
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCCU) — Fire chiefs from across Illinois brought concerns about mental illness to a discussion hosted by the Illinois Fire Service Institute on Tuesday.
Two chiefs mentioned concerns around suicide facing their departments and the need to make firefighters aware of the resources available to them.
The director of the Illinois Fire Service Institute said Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a very real issue among firefighters, just like it is in the military.
"They're taught by their culture to be supermen,” IFSI director Colonel Royal Mortenson said. “Firefighters are just like Marines. They're taught to be tough and nothing can affect me, but the reality is that these traumatic events that they can experience do have an effect and impact on them."
Mental health education is now part of almost all trainings at IFSI, which Col. Mortenson says should help reach about 12,000 firefighters a year.
Champaign Fire Chief Gary Ludwig says stress is something firefighters have to find a way to deal with seeing things like death and disaster throughout their career.
"We're just on the cusp of understanding mentally how our firefighters are impacted by the things that they see and the things that they have to do and what they encounter,” Ludwig said.
He works to make sure each Champaign firefighter knows about the resources available to help them through stressful times.
"We're just on the cusp of understanding mentally how our firefighters are impacted by the things that they see and the things that they have to do and what they encounter."
Research is showing that the most helpful person firefighters can talk out these issues with are other firefighters. Ludwig says he has members of his staff trained to counsel fellow firefighters and identify those who may need additional help.
Family members are some of the first ones to notice when a first responder is having trouble dealing with the things they’ve encountered on the job.
For more information on help available to first responders dealing with mental health problems, you can view resources recommended by IFSI here.
