First responders dedicate their lives to saving lives of others, day after day, month after month, year after year. They are there for all of us when tragedies and disasters strike. They keep us safe, responding without hesitation, putting their lives on the line, and witnessing horror as part of their daily job. This constant exposure to human tragedy and trauma takes a toll on their mental health, often contributing to anxiety, depression, PTSD, and suicide.
Unfortunately, first responder training does not prepare the trainees for the severe mental impact of their job. Often driven by long working hours, emotional strain, and cultural expectations of being strong and keeping things to yourself, our first responders are suffering in silence. Going from one emergency to the next, the first responders do not get a chance to debrief or decompress between the calls which exacerbates their mental issues. Instead of seeking help, they shut down emotionally, developing compassion fatigue, only to be triggered unexpectedly by some old memory into an overly emotional response. Unable to acknowledge and process images, memories, experiences, and emotions, they turn to suicide as their only option.
Suicides among first responders are all too common, and the numbers are simply staggering. A study conducted by University of Arizona College of Medicine in 2018 showed that Arizona emergency medical technicians are at a 39% higher risk for suicide than the general population. First responder suicide rates are very close to those of military veterans of 41% who often suffer from PTSD (Department of Veterans Affairs). According to an article published in 2015 in the Journal of Emergency Medicine, a survey of more than 4,000 first responders determined that 6.6% of them have attempted suicide, which is 10 times higher than the general population. Nearly 1 in 4 police officers have thought about suicide in their lifetime. A University of Phoenix survey has determined that 85% of first responders have reported mental health issues, depression being the main one (27%), followed by PTSD (10%).
The issue of first responder suicide is very close to my heart. Having a friend who is an EMT, and another one who is a firefighter, I have heard the most heart-breaking stories, and I have seen the emotional strain and anguish my friends go through every day during the course of their jobs. Knowing how to take care of yourself, or where to get help is something every first responder needs to know in order to maintain their mental health.
Natalia's Blog 
Thank you for this introduction to the critical problem of suicide among first responders. It is important to note that the first responder professions, including police, fire, paramedics, dispatchers, and others do recognize the problem and are taking steps to address it through a variety of mechanisms with various outcomes. In other words, departments are certainly not ignoring the problem. To that end, it would be valuable to know what kind of training and services are historically and currently incorporated for first responders related to coping with the stressors of their extraordinary work.
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