Listen to this very special firefighter's podcast here
Over the past few days and weeks, the fire service news has been inundated with stories of firefighters who have taken their own lives. It’s times like these which force us to pause and realize that the mental health challenges we face every day are truly no different than any physical challenge such as a bum back or sprained knee that keeps us from operating at our best. Why then are we treating these obstacles in such a different way?
The truth is that now, more than ever before, our brothers and sisters in the fire and EMS services, along with our families, have an incredible amount of new resources with which to assist us as we begin to change our attitudes toward the way we address these issues which have always been there, but we were always afraid to confront. The result is that more and more of us are emerging from our behavioral issues as much more healthy, productive, and happy firefighters, moms, and dads.
Now that’s great news.
Firefighter Netcast is suspending our regular programming schedule to bring you re-broadcasts of some of this great news so we can apply it as its needed- starting today. One of our most listened-to shows was originally netcast late last summer and features two special guests who lead a thought-provoking discussion on firefighter behavioral health.
Battalion Chief Jeff Dill of the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District in suburban Chicago is an Illinois licensed counselor of behavioral issues specifically for firefighters. He formed “Counseling Services For Firefighters” to offer just that- firefighters who know where firefighters are coming from and thus are best quipped to relate and help their brothers and sisters. Chief Dill is joined by another suburban Chicago Fire Chief- Pat Kenny, retired chief from the Hinsdale and Western Springs fire departments. Chief Kenny is the Assistant Executive Director of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association and a representative at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Seminar on Depression and Suicide held last summer in Baltimore. Moreover, Chief Kenny is the father of Sean Kenny, who took his own life back in 2004. Listen to Chief Kenny as he offers a firsthand account of what its like to go through the torture of having lost your son to suicide, and how to deal with his loss publicly as a chief officer in his own department.
It’s very powerful stuff, and I hope you’ll join us for the next few days as we bring you all of the segments of this amazing show. It’s our hope that we can learn to approach these issues we face with a new attitude, and realization that we are winning these battles, just as we have overcome countless challenges over the storied history of this, the greatest service on earth.
B/C Dill is a nationally recognized authority on behavioral health issues within the fire service. He established Counseling Services for Fire Fighters, LLC based on the tragic events that surrounded Hurricane Katrina. When speaking with firefighters who returned after serving the community of New Orleans, Jeff heard the pleas of firefighters who had a difficult time talking with counselors who did not have any firefighting experience. They became frustrated and never did seek the help they needed. In this program, Chief Dill tells us about a new resource coming to the aid of the fire service. Last year, Chief Dill announced the formation of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA). The new 501(c) (3) organization was established to directly educate firefighters/ Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel and their families about behavioral health issues such as depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety and addictions, as well as firefighter suicides. FBHA's sole goal is to promote good mental health to the men and women of the fire service/EMS and their families, as well as make a significant difference in reducing the numbers of firefighters who are turning to suicide to ease their pain. FBHA Founder Jeff Dill holds a Master's Degree in Counseling, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Illinois.
Joining Chief Dill will be a very special guest- retired Fire Chief Patrick Kenny of the Hinsdale (IL) Fire Department. Chief Kenny is the Assistant Executive Director of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association and a representative at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Seminar on Depression and Suicide.
Tragically, in 2006, Chief Kenny lost his son Sean to suicide. He reflects on the obstacles and challenges he faced as a father as well as a chief officer during his personal nightmare. Since then, Chief Kenny has traveled across the nation and around the world sharing his intensely personal story and promoting advocacy of mental health awareness in the fire service and beyond.
Find out more by visiting any the links above, or browsing these others:
Here's an excerpt:
Once upon a time long, long ago in my basic firefighter education, our instructors were often looked up to and held in reverence as they expounded their thoughts and ideas to eager young ears. I had some kick-ass instructors for which much of that tribute was earned. Of course, there were the others who were teaching for other reasons. But we always took what we were told as good information without thinking for ourselves if something didn’t make sense. We did as we were told and we never asked any questions. We ate our meat or we couldn’t have any pudding.
After awhile however, there were a few who began to question this edict handed down from above. These brave souls raised their hands and asked “why?” If the circumstances involving ventilation, fire behavior and building construction dictate that it may be better to fight it FROM THE BURNED SIDE, then why are we being told the opposite?
One need only look as far as the gargantuan aircraft carrier-type shift in the fire department culture seen in Charleston, South Carolina. Following the tragedy at the Charleston Sofa Superstore Fire four years ago, they recognized and admitted that their own policies and procedures which had been unchanged and steeped in history no longer applied as they had for decades in the past. To say that they are a changed department today is a massive understatement. 
With the April edition of the First Due Blog Carnival complete, it’s time now to begin collecting your submissions for this month’s topic: 
Sizeup, Risk/Gain
But, as I grew up in the 70’s, the fire service was evolving as well. The decade brought us “Dazed and Confused” and the rise and fall of disco also brought the birth of paramedicine, and much was being done in the public eye that was inconceivable just ten years earlier. 
Then came the TV show 
While the paramedic side of the fire service was the initial lure for me, that quickly changed. I had the incredible fortune of joining right before my first drill night- an actual burn down of several buildings. They strapped on this air pack thing and sent me crawling in behind a young lieutenant into an interior fire. No hose line, no water can. Just to experience the heat. 
Next up, they wanted to make sure this new guy could climb an extension ladder and a roof ladder, then cut a ventilation hole directly over the fire room. As the third cut was completed, the flap fell in and the fire came exploding out of the hole sending me reeling backward with a revving K-12 almost causing a fall.
I quickly stashed my venti vanilla skim latte in its holder and simultaneously honked and waved with less fingers than my left hand contains, while clutching my iPhone in my right. What was this chucklehead thinking?
As we decide how to utilize the constant array of new technology, we need to address the amount of distraction we’re placing upon our responders. We need to recognize and accept that too much input may result in a decreased ability to process the information in a way that is useful. Worse yet, distracted emergency responders may bring increased civil and criminal liabilities upon our departments.
You know, I really enjoy the dance that occurs between the top and the bottom in the fire service organization. At the top, the vision and direction of the group are put into play. Those at the bottom need to accept, or buy into that vision in order for the group to move forward in a unified and cohesive manner.
But while CNN, ABC, and NBC all struggled to keep the video and audio flowing, we saw the emergence of an entirely new form of communication in street-level reporting. Anyone and everyone with some type of connection to the internet suddenly had the instant ability to become the next Christiane Amanpour, Anderson Cooper, or Wolf Blitzer.
Celebrities and musicians with hundreds of thousands of followers on twitter have established fund raising efforts with incredible results. Those followers join the cause, but then create an entirely new group of donors simply by re-tweeting the information to their own followers. 
Then, the accident happened. Another quarter of an inch shift in location, my neurologist explained, and my skull fracture would almost certainly have resulted in me becoming a quadriplegic. So I fully appreciate the “luck” that befell me on that warm spring day in May. But, even with help from above, I must tell you how everything changed in the blink of an eye. 
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