New Program Offers MN FFs Health, Wellness Support

WILLMAR — A firefighter's job is never easy. It can be difficult, dangerous and heartbreaking. It can also be amazing, hopeful and wonderful when at the end of a call everyone is safe and healthy. However, for the firefighters the risks from the job, whether it is a physical ailment or mental scars, carry on far past the last blaze.

"There is a moral imperative to firefighting. People expect us to put ourselves in harm's way, to do what we do. That is part of the job," said Wayne Kewitsch, executive director of the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative. "That doesn't mean we can't try and mitigate and minimize the hazards we are exposed to, so we can live long and healthy lives."

Last summer, the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative, commonly called MnFIRE, was successful in getting the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program passed by the state Legislature. The bill provides $4 million per year in this biennium to provide every firefighter in the state of Minnesota access to both physical and mental health care. It was a three-year effort to get it passed, but now the program is in its first year.

"It has been a big lift the past few months, getting it passed and then getting everything up and operational," Kewitsch said.

Hometown Heroes focuses on getting help to firefighters in need, whether they are suffering from cancer or need counseling to deal with some of the horrible things they have seen or experienced. Hometown Heroes includes both the Critical Illness Program and the MnFIRE Assistance Program which can provide firefighters with assistance on both scores.

When a building catches fire, there is no way to tell what kind of dangerous chemicals or agents are floating in the air along with the smoke or covering the debris left behind. In modern buildings there are fewer natural materials used than in decades past, which can expose a firefighter to many cancer-causing materials as well as more dangerous fires, Kewitsch said. Firefighters are also at risk of sudden cardiac events like heart attacks, which can be triggered by carbon monoxide, particulate matter in the smoke as well as increased heart rates and extreme physical exertion.

The Critical Illness Program gives firefighters dealing with a critical illness such as cancer or cardiac problems up to $20,000 in cash assistance to help with expenses such as lodging while receiving treatment or paying bills while they're out of work.

"We've already paid three claims and we have two dozen more in process," Kewitsch said. "I receive a call every week from a firefighter that has been diagnosed with cancer or a cardiac issue."

The MnFIRE Assistance Program provides trained counselors, either over the phone or online, at any time day or night for firefighters and their immediate families. They can also utilize trained peer support and talk to another firefighter.

"A firefighter can talk to a fellow firefighter who has had those experiences, understands the job and has been trained to guide that individual through the crisis or through their issues," Kewitsch said.

Training is a big part of Hometown Heroes. Fire departments receive curriculum on the assistance programs available to firefighters as well as instruction about the occupational risks they take while doing their job.

"I look at it as training that is no different than putting your air pack on," Kewitsch said.

There is also training for health care professionals to make them more aware of the health risks to which firefighters are exposed. This can help them when treating a firefighter and as they plan for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

"They don't understand what firefighters are exposed to, that they should be screened for things at an earlier age," Kewitsch said.

While lawmakers approved only two years of funding for Hometown Heroes, Kewitsch hopes the state will continue to fund the program for years to come. According to a study by the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence, in 2018 Minnesota ranked 47th in the nation for fire protection spending per household at $237. There is definitely a need for this program and its funding, Kewitsch believes.

"They are your neighbors, your friends, your family. They are going out in the middle of the night, 30-below wind chills to help someone in need. Then they get back to the station, clean up and go to work for the day," Kewtisch said, and they need this help, even if they have a hard time asking for it.

MnFIRE is hoping to change the dialogue and stigma around asking for assistance, no matter the reason or cause, to get help to those who need it. The overreaching goal of Hometown Heroes is to keep Minnesota's firefighters safe and healthy, even when they are far from the flames.

"Our goal is 20 years from now that we won't have any firefighter suicides, that the rate of firefighter cancer goes the same way of the general public," Kewitsch said. "That is our goal."

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