Six Steps for Building Resilience and Preventing PTSD

Firefighters are developing awareness about the toxins that raise their risk of developing cancer.

I never thought that I would see the day when we didn’t gear up before leaving the firehouse for a fire, but Clean Cab initiatives are in place to keep these toxins out of the passenger compartment of apparatus.

Some departments are monitoring for hydrogen cyanide post-fire.

Members are wearing masks during overhaul, aware that off-gassing is raising the cancer threat level.

Charcoal soap is becoming more prevalent in showers to aid in the detoxification process after incidents.

There even is a video circulating of a European firefighter who doffs his gear right down to his shorts on scene, like a hazmat decon.

Equally as toxic to our body are the traumatic scenes that play out daily throughout our career. The average American sees four or five traumatic incidents in a lifetime. Firefighters who work in busier communities could see that in one bad shift.

Here are six practical steps that firefighters can take to build resilience and to defend themselves against post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2023.

Establish relationships

Firefighters need the ability to unload trauma, and always bringing the subject or material into our living room isn’t an option: Exclusively unpacking our experiences with our spouses and partners isn’t practical nor healthy for the relationship.

Having that person or group who we can call after a traumatic incident is valuable. Have an agreement in place, including a verbal cue that signals to others that you need to process what you just experienced.

Keep a counselor on speed dial

Having and maintaining a relationship with a counselor who speaks “firefighter” is vital.

That said, remember counselors are a lot like boots. Some fit well, and we keep them. Others are uncomfortable, and we need to shelf them. We need a good counselor who understands us.

Entering a crisis is the wrong time to look for a counselor and hope to find a good fit. The American mental healthcare system is insufficient, and it might be common to find waitlists for counselors. The IAFF Center of Excellence can help with vetted lists, as perhaps can state unions.

Practice meditation and yoga

I have studied and found that there are two effective interventions for managing job-related stress and trauma. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which has great efficacy for PTSD, is one. Building a practice based on Eastern philosophies of meditation and movement is the other. EMDR requires a specialized counselor, whereas yoga and meditation practices need only you and a quiet space.

Recently, mindfulness meditation went head-to-head with popular anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medication) in a study. Meditation was shown to be as or more effective as the medications. Yoga, Tai Chi and similar disciplines help us to connect to our bodies, which might be difficult after years of trauma and job stress.

I hear the groans from here. I know that many of us have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which is why so many of us can’t sit still—hence a reason that many of us entered the fire service in the first place. However, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a marathon begins with one mile.

Try 10 minutes of meditation per day and see what happens after a month.

There are great resources on YouTube to get you started. Search “mindfulness meditation” and see where it takes you.

Exercise

We all know the associated physical health benefits of exercise, but do you know that daily exercise helps to build mental resilience as well?

The good news is that you don’t have to be a CrossFit athlete or a powerlifter to enjoy the mental health benefits of exercise. Studies show that brisk walking helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Grab your truck radio and set up a course around quarters. Consider taking the entire company to a serene location in your first-due and walk in the view of the public. Even a course inside of the station can serve as a track for brisk walking. Just get up and establish a daily routine and notice the reduction in stress, with a side of cardiovascular improvement.

Tend your garden

It would be reasonable to believe that stress in your personal life complicates the traumatic stress that’s experienced on the job. The cumulative nature of stress across all areas of life is a threat.

Working to manage the amount of stress that you experience away from the job provides a resilient layer against PTSD.

Work to iron out marital conflicts and maintain healthy relationships.

Many firefighters work copious amounts of overtime and/or second jobs. Create a healthy work-life balance and establish intentional and regularly scheduled recreational periods every day.

Know your enemy

Every year, I receive Occupational Safety and Health Administration-mandated communicable disease training, despite never having met anyone in the fire service who had a disease communicated to them on the job. (Perhaps this proves the effectiveness of the annual training.)

If departments won’t mandate healthy awareness of the fastest growing threat to their members, we must take the time to study and understand the subject. Understanding the signs and symptoms of acute stress and post-traumatic stress is as valuable as recognizing the signs of flashover. If we don’t have a healthy awareness, both really could burn us in the end. Understanding the signs of PTSD keeps us safe and keeps our brothers and sisters safe as well. 

A new mindset

During the course of a career in the fire service, members will experience traumatic events. Training on how to protect against PTSD should begin the day that the helmets and boots are handed out at the academy.

With underreporting of suicide by fire service members, it stands to argue that we lose way more firefighters to suicide than flashovers. If we spend an hour in a flashover simulator, how much time do you think that we should spend understanding PTSD and building resilience?