OSFA Safety & Health Committee Reports Larry Hansen: Page to Ponder Rehab is Not Just for Quitters Taking place each year during the third full week of June, Safety Stand Down highlights critRet. OKC FD ical safety, health, and survival issues for fire and emergency services personnel. Departments were asked to suspend all non-emergency activities during the week to focus their attention on safety and health education efforts. A week is provided to ensure that all duty shifts can participate. The 2021 Safety Stand Down took place June 20-26. The theme was “Rebuild Rehab.” This theme focused on the critical importance of physical and psychological rehab to mitigate the physiological and mental impacts of firefighting. The goal was to make sure everyone is ready to respond to the next emergency. The expectation is that departments would re-visit rehab procedures to ensure that post-incident protocol covers all areas of health and safety, including cardiac, nutrition, exposure, psychological, hydration and heat stress. Did you and/or your department take the time to focus and revisit your rehab protocols? Do you have rehab protocols? Old school thought is that rehab is for quitters. This is not true anymore and science has shown that a physically and emotionally well-rehabbed firefighter is more efficient and productive as compared to an exhausted, dehydrated, emotionally depleted firefighter. Overall, I think we do well with the physical rehab of our firefighters. We understand the need to provide hydration and cooling systems during emergency incidents and training evolutions. I think we fall short on the emotional or mental health rehab for our personnel. According to a study cited in Fire Engineering, more than 45 percent of firefighters have considered suicide, and 15 percent have attempted it. Deaths by suicide in 2018 exceeded lineof-duty deaths. In a 2018 survey conducted by the International Association of Fire Fighters of 7,000 firefighters nationwide, respondents overwhelmingly reported “that stressful or traumatic experiences on the job have impacted their mental health. Among the struggles they say are directly connected to the job: 19 percent have had thoughts of suicide, 27 percent have struggled with substance abuse, 59 percent have experienced family and relationship problems, and 65 percent are haunted by memories of bad calls.” We as fire service professionals, both active and retired, need to be more proactive in the mental health field for our firefighters. We are good with having yearly physical wellness exams and fit testing for face masks. Do we provide annual or bi-annual mental wellness checkups for our firefighters? Should we? Is it legal? These questions should be investigated and answered accordingly. Does your department provide exit interviews when a firefighter retires? Most departments do not. They simply say thank you for your service, here is your going away trinket and grab the next person up to fill the vacant position. If this profession is truly about sisterhood and brotherhood, then why don’t we take the time to make sure our firefighters emotional 40 August/September/October 2021Oklahoma Firefighter
Melanie Colvin: Live Long & Prosper It seems like summertime is passing by faster than some might want it to. The heat can wear us out, but it is nice to be able to hit the lakes, swimming pools, camp sites and fishing ponds Lexington FD for some much-needed relaxation. I hope that each of you have been able to take some personal time to enjoy life a little bit. With today’s busy schedules and shift changes, overtime, family obligations, etc, we tend to lose sleep, time and forget to take some time for ourselves. Self-Care is something we don’t always put on the priority list of to-dos. But what happens when we don’t? Life gets overwhelming and we lose sight of the important parts we should be enjoying. So many things affect our ability for self-care. We work hard. Work overtime. Stay up late and get up early. We spend our days sleep deprived and dragging. I know I am guilty of pushing too hard for too long and not taking down time to recover and decompress. This can affect our entire world. Being able to have that time to rejuvenate ourselves affects our moods and energy levels. We tend to take more time to appreciate the small things in life that can give us great joy. If we’re too busy we miss those small fleeting moments that pass to soon. Your child’s laughter, Oklahoma sunrises and sunsets, the smile from your significant other and enjoying a meal with a loved one are all things and so many more, that can be taken for granted if we don’t slow down enough to appreciate them. I know some people who have gratitude journals and write down one thing each day they are grateful for. They say that by doing this they can go back and read what they were grateful for when they need a moment of inspiration or a reminder of all the wonderful things that they have witnessed. I do my best to stop in the moment and enjoy. Be present and soak in the greatness that is happening before you. These moments are gone in a flash. Life can change in an instant. Don’t regret not taking the time to enjoy the moment. well-being is just as important as our physical well-being? It makes sense that a physically and emotionally fit crew of firefighters showing up on scene of a citizen’s emergency will be able to mitigate the problem more efficiently. The citizens deserve nothing less from us. There are many resources that fire departments can use or develop if their goal is to have physically fit and emotionally fit firefighters. Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), Peer Support teams, Fire Service Chaplains, Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), Non-fire service clergy, fire officer and chief officer training on mental health. Probably the biggest thing we can do is to change the fire service culture on how we view emotional and mental health rehab. It has got to be OK not to be OK. This will only work, though, if fire departments and municipalities are willing to put value in their personnel and provide programs, resources, and time to make sure our firefighters are mentally and physically rehabbed throughout our careers and post retirement. Until Next Time, Stay Safe and Be Nice to One Another.
