The Airing of Grievances: Defeating the Mental Health Stigma
The fire service has come a long way over the past few years regarding the stigma of mental health. As each day passes, we are becoming more and more open to discussing topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and suicide at the kitchen table. Despite the increasingly open dialogue, many fire department members are still apprehensive about reaching out for assistance. Many of our members try to “tough things out” and work through their issues on their own. By the time those members finally reach out for help, they may have already dug themselves into a significant hole they will need to climb out of. We are an inherently stubborn bunch who will often wait until we are deep in despair before calling “Mayday” and asking for help. What if we were able to dissipate the stubbornness by bringing help directly to our members?
What Does a Clinician Station Visit Consist of?
A clinician station visit consists of a clinician going to the firehouse and meeting with members while they are on duty. By meeting the member at their place of employment, the hope is that these visits result in:
- Destigmatizing talking to a therapist
- Discuss stressors
- Discuss coping skills
- Screen for PTSD, ACE’s, depression, and anxiety
- Resource referrals
These checkups are a great way of getting a trained professional in front of your members. The checkups are no more than an hour and are typically held somewhere private in the firehouse. Itwill be up to the individuals paying for the clinician services to determine whether these checks are mandatory.
It’s important to note that these checkups are not:
- Fit-for-duty evaluations
- Assessments
- A form of punishment
- Punitive
Outcomes
The hope is that your members will feel comfortable enough to share any issues that they may be going through. Even if the member is in a good place, if they need assistance down the road, the hope is that by already establishing a relationship with the clinician, they will be more apt to seek help from them.
The clinician should avoid taking notes and report only the following to the department’s designee:
- The number of members seen
- The number of members first time seeing a clinician
- Main stressors
- The number of referrals
These checkups are an essential tool for your department’s members. Many firefighters value their time off and try not to do anything job-related while they are off. Bringing the clinician to firefighters while they are on duty at their station may be the only way to have constructive conversations regarding behavioral health.
The clinician visits may be an item that you will need to prioritize in your budget. These checkups should be viewed as an annual investment in your members and may save your fire department money by reducing sick leave, insurance payments, and workers compensation claims. There is a good chance that these checkups may save one of your members’ lives.
Jim Burneka is a recently retired firefighter-paramedic with the Dayton (OH) Fire Department. Jim was the inaugural wellness coordinator for the Dayton Fire Department and the health & safety/peer support coordinator for Dayton Firefighters Local 136. Jim has been involved in the fight against occupational cancer for over 18 years and is a cancer survivor. He is also a technical committee member on NFPA 1585, Contamination Control, and NFPA 1580, Standard for Emergency Responder Occupational Health & Wellness. Jim hosts two monthly webcast/podcast on Firefighter Nation. Jim Is also the co-author of the Amazon bestseller “Overcoming Tuesday: A First Responder’s Tale of Healing and Resiliency”. Jim serves on the PPE Reimagined and the WFI 5th edition committees with the IAFF. Jim lives in “Exotic” Beavercreek Ohio with his wife Lauren, and two boys Jameson and Logan.
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