Every year, various observances that span a day, week or month cover myriad areas, including vocations, health and personal interests. Over the past 95 years, October traditionally is the most important to the fire service with Fire Prevention Week (FPW), which was created by President Calvin Coolidge. Over the years, FPW expanded from one week to the entire month, and many departments operate their FPW programs year-round.
The month of May holds two observances that are important to the U.S. fire service: Mental Health Awareness Month and National EMS Week. After the past year, the two go hand-in-hand.
National EMS Week
This year marks the 46th annual National EMS Week, which was enacted by President Gerald Ford in 1974 to recognize the efforts of the first line in medical intervention. The results from the ways by which EMS systems evolved over the past five decades are immeasurable: early intervention from trained EMS personnel saved countless lives.
Some aspects of fire department growth response capabilities took about a decade to mature—hazmat in the 1980s, rapid intervention and back to basics in the 1990s, and terrorism and technical rescue in the 2000s. The EMS system changes much more frequently. Thanks to continual research in the medical field, new equipment has been rolling out rapidly to improve survivability. Furthermore, new community risk reduction programs are being developed and enacted by the fire service, such as community paramedicine, to reduce the growing volume of nonemergent EMS calls.
In April 2021, a news story came on the radio about the spike in opioid deaths, primarily because of the use of fentanyl, and the burden that the spike places on the healthcare system, including EMS crews. All of those who are in the chain of care should be recognized during National EMS Week—but also year-round—because they carry a lot on their shoulders.
You are not alone
Even if your fire agency isn’t involved in EMS response, the focus on mental health is something that every firefighter must pay attention to this month—and in reality, on a daily basis. With the growing burden on fire departments to take on new and evolving roles in their community and on large-scale responses, such as wildfires and natural disasters, it’s so important that you take care of yourself, your colleagues and your family at home. The number of firefighters who take their own life or who leave their department early because of struggles with their mental health is alarming, and each one of you who is reading this column has a role in preventing that.
The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Month is “You Are Not Alone.” It serves as a reminder that you can turn to your brother and sister firefighters to share mental health concerns or can seek resources from your department and from organizations that were established to understand the specific needs of firefighters.
In this issue’s Health & Wellness column, Chief Derek Maxfield shares how the West Jordan City, UT, Fire Department developed a mandatory mental health program for its members. Find the must-read article on page 60 and discuss the concept with your chief to ensure that you’re taking care of each other. Also, search Firehouse.com for “mental health” and you’ll find dozens of articles that cover how to overcome the stigma of mental health, where to find assistance, what you can do when you see someone who has untreated mental health disorders and more.
Other May observances
I know of two departments that take this month to focus on firefighter maydays and rescues. “May-day Mondays” and “May-days for Us” include discussions and practical drills that are culled from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and after-action reports from incidents where RIT teams were activated for maydays. They also recreate a number of scenarios, including the Denver and Nance drills. To prepare for the mayday drills, the first week of the month focuses on self-survival skills.
I would be remiss if I didn’t note International Firefighters Day on May 4. The day to honor firefighters around the world started in 1999 as a tribute to firefighters who were killed in an Australian wildfire.
Although all of these observances are designed to shed light on topics for distinct periods of time, the fact remains that lives are on the line all year.
