051. Saving Ourselves: Practical Suicide Prevention for First Responders

September is Suicide Prevention Month, a crucial time for raising awareness and breaking the stigma surrounding mental health, especially within the firefighter community. 

In this episode, we discuss why this month matters, explore the unique challenges faced by firefighters, and highlight impactful measures like safe firearm storage and mental health check-ins. 

Learn how creating buffers during crises, encouraging open conversations, and fostering strong relationships can save lives. 

Join us in making a commitment to prioritize mental health and resilience, ensuring that suicide prevention is a year-round effort.

00:00 Introduction to Suicide Prevention Month

00:38 The Impact on Firefighters

01:41 Firearm Safety and Suicide Prevention

02:25 Creating a Buffer: Suicide Prevention by Design

04:54 The Importance of Talking and Community Support

07:51 Preplanning for Personal Crises

12:38 Building Resilience: Physical Fitness and Mindfulness

13:50 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Transcript

TJ: September is suicide prevention month. This is a time dedicated to raising awareness about suicide sharing, resources and stories. And working together to break the stigma surrounding mental health struggles. For us as firefighters, this hits home on a very personal level. We've seen the numbers, we've read the stories and sometimes. We felt that ourselves. So in today's episode, I'm going to talk about why suicide prevention month matters. What we can do as a firefighter community to support each other and how small, actionable steps like safe firearm storage and mental health. 

Check-ins. Can make all the difference. So let's start talking about impact on firefighters. Let's look at the big picture first. First responders and definitely firefighters. Face a unique set of challenges. We see things every day that most people really could never even imagine. It could be the trauma of witnessing a life or death situation. Or just the steady pressure of being responsible for the safety of others. We're not immune to the toll that it takes on our mental health. And here's a chilling fact. Firefighters are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty. Take a moment to let that sink in. The leading cause of death for firefighters is not a fire it's suicide. 

September as suicide prevention month is a critical time for us to pause and recognize these harsh realities. 

It's a chance to step up for ourselves and for each other. And to break down the stigma that surrounds mental health and our field. 

Let's look at firearms. They are involved in 65% of suicide deaths for first responders. 65% over half. Almost two thirds of all. Suicide deaths. And firefighters are because of firearms. And look, I'm not anti-gun I'm not telling you to go sell your shit. Many of us own firearms. But, and I've been guilty of this in the past. 

Not too many of us store them safely all the time. So, again, I'm not saying do not own a gun. What I'm saying is that storing it safely? Could be the difference between life and death in a moment of crisis. 

So let's dive into suicide prevention by design. What is it? It's one of the most effective strategies that we can embrace when it comes to preventing suicide. It's all about creating a buffer. And if you want to go back to the hazmat days to learning about regular. Radiological stuff. I go back to. Time distance shielding. We're not looking at shielding this time, but time and distance. 

So you want to create that time and that distance between someone in a crisis. And their access to lethal means, especially firearms. Research has shown that there's this thing called suicidal intensity. It's those dark moments when someone is most likely to do make an irreversible decision. That the suicidal intensity is super quick for the most part. But. If there's immediate access to something like a loaded weapon. Those moments can turn into a horrible tragedy, extremely fast. So I think, you know, where I'm headed next by storing firearms securely. Locking them away, or, you know, if you're like Maryland, you're supposed to carry your weapon without ammunition. But by doing these things by engineering, these controls and putting them in place. You can help create that time and distance. That's going to, like I said, make the difference. In a suicidal crisis. You're giving yourself or you're giving somebody else that chance to cool down to rethink and ultimately to survive.

I think it was the IDF, the Israeli defense force day. 

They took away weapons for their. Folks during weekends and it dropped. The suicide rate something ridiculous like 30 or 40%. So it applies to us as firefighters as well. Right? It's um, if we take these proactive steps, not just for ourselves, but for the people around us who may be struggling, we're going to be making that difference. And again, don't come at me. 

I'm not saying sell your guns. I like guns. I like shooting. I also understand. That a lot of us carry that deep. Dark. Escape plan. And having access to a weapon in a time of crisis. Can ma bring that escape plan to fruition. And we don't want that. We want to, we want you to stay around. We want you to make it to retirement and to grow old and to not let. Uh, crisis be the end of you. 

So how can we help each other? How can we as a community support each other. Not just during suicide prevention month, but beyond. First and foremost, and this is where my boy stacks. Yes, a lot on his things. We all carry podcast talk. Just fucking talk. The culture of the fire service makes us think that we need to be tough. And to keep everything bottled up. And to cope with issues by drinking and tobacco. And whatever the flavor of the weakest this week. I'd look talking about mental health does not make you weak. 

That is some boomer level shit that we need to get rid of. It's actually the strongest thing you can do. For you to become so aware of your own struggles and talking to your folks to your crew and saying, Hey. I'm struggling. You are the strongest motherfucker in that crew? Because you had the awareness to realize what's, what's bothering you and you had the courage to reach out to the people who care about you. And put yourself out there. 

So it could be a peer support group. It could be one-on-one conversations. It could be just a quick, quick check-in whatever you need to do, talking about what's going on. Can save lives. 

The next thing that we can do, not just during September, but all throughout the year. Is to educate, not just yourself, but also your crew. Make sure that everybody understands. And honestly you can start awesome kitchen table discussion. That's going to turn into a massive argument. If you bring up the safe storage of firearms, because you know, There is some guy out there who saying like, I'm ready for the apocalypse IQ, my 1911 loaded by my nightstand. It's going to be fucking hilarious, but. You might just get across to that person. 

Who's gonna put his gun in a safe. And if he has a crisis, It's going to take them a while to get to that gun and give them time to cool down. So talk about that fucking bring up this topic in front of your crew. Remember. We all experienced these things together. So let's talk about them together. Also those people who use. You know, the ones I'm talking about, you see that they might be struggling with something. Make sure they understand what suicide intensity looks like and how they can get help in that time of crisis. I'm sure. 

There's departments out there that have employee assistance programs, a peer support teams. But just normalize it, just talking about it with your crew, making it part of the station culture. Is going to take away the stigma and it's going to make it much, much easier and much more successful. For us to keep our firefighters alive, to keep them from taking their own lives. And third, this is going to be the really uncomfortable ones. 

So buckle up. Preplanned for your own personal crisis. We preplanned for so many emergencies, we preplan the buildings, the target hazards. What have you. 

So we need to preplan for our own personal crises. It could be as simple as creating or using a template for this crisis card. It's if you know that you might be getting to a dark space, you can create this little thing. Where. Not just a reminder for you, but it could be for somebody else if they happen to catch you in the moment. It's. 

Shows who you can call at a time of crisis when you're feeling overwhelmed. It has Alyssa things that you can do to help yourself calm down. And even can have like the breathing technique to help you regain control. Having that plan in place. When you hit the low. It's going to make all the difference. And you're probably laughing thinking this is so silly. But when you get to that point of darkness, something as silly as having a card that says, oh, when I'm feeling sad, I enjoy going out for a walk and listening to the birds in nature. 

That might be all you need to break out of that state of mind. That's taking you to a dark place, because remember when you get to that point, And we talk about it in episodes 25 and 26 with Dave Smith. It's just your brain freaking the fuck out. So if you can give it that little token of. Normalcy that little card that says I enjoy going out for a walk. 

Then you're giving your brain that chance to just kind of. Get back to semi-normal state and just kind of chill out for a bit.

TJ: One of the biggest barriers I would face when it comes to mental health in the fire service is the stigma that comes with it. There is still this idea out there that if you admit that you're struggling, you are somehow not tough enough for the job. I just, I read one of the comments on a post recently that said, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. 

And I guarantee you it's that motherfucker who goes home and drinks, a 30 pack of beer and yells at his wife and his fucking kids. Hate him. Look. Just because you're struggling, doesn't make you a lesser firefighter. We all go through this. We are human. At the end of the day, we're fucking humans doing the job of a firefighter. Just because you went through an academy or you raise your right hand or you took fire training does not make you immune to these things. 

And anybody who tells you otherwise is full of shit and they can't deal with their own issues. But that's on them to deal with. We can help them later. Admitting that you need help is one of the strongest things that you can do. I've already mentioned this before. It shows that you care about your own wellbeing, but your family, your crew and your community. You don't want to put them through. Having to bury you. Because the darkness got to you. So if you're struggling, please reach out. 

Look. It could be to me. I don't care. I've been there and I've had people that I can reach out to. It doesn't have to be some massive grand gesture. It could be as simple as talking to a friend. Uh, reaching out to your peer support folks or hell if you want to call the suicide prevention lifeline, the number is 9 8, 8. Remember you matter, your mental health matters and your life matters do not wait until it's too late. And I say that with such passion. 

And if you're reading the blog, you'll see a picture of Sean Yarborough, the Lieutenant from. St. John's county. He was a buddy of mine. He was a good buddy of mine. We spent some time in Vegas training together, out at, um, at mercury. Doing the rad nuke training. And I found out a few months ago that. One day after work, he went home. 

Used to gone on his wife and then turn it on himself. And. I think the simplest way of putting it is it fucking sucks. Because then it makes you wonder, Hey, what could I have done for him? 

And then it makes you wonder, like, what was the trigger? How could we have changed it? How could we have minimized it? And save two people's lives. 

Again, It doesn't make us weak. Fucking sucks that we lose our own people this way. But if we put in the effort and we face this issue, head on. We're going to have much better success rate. But, okay. I don't want to bring everybody down. Let's shift gears and talk about the long game. Because suicide prevention. 

Isn't just about those emergency measures. It's about building that resilience every single day. 

Obviously, I think, you know where I'm going to go with this. One of the best ways to do that is physical fitness and mindfulness, because when you're physically fit, your body can handle the stress so much better. Regular exercise is not just going to build your muscles and build your stamina. But it's going to help regulate your mood. 

It's going to reduce your anxiety. And it's going to make it so much easier to sleep. These are all things that protect your mental health. Now mindfulness is that other tool in the toolbox, something as simple as breathing techniques, right? Everybody talks about the Navy seals box breathing. That helps you regain control when things feel overwhelming. 

But if you get in the habit of doing that, You're going to notice that things are not going to be as overwhelming as often. Other things like meditation and stretching. And like I mentioned before going for a five minute walk outside. Can help reset your brain. 

And the other thing that we can't forget is the power of strong relationships. The connections that we have with our brothers and sisters in the fire service are some of the strongest that we will ever, ever make. So let's lean on each other and be that person that somebody can come to. And don't be afraid to go to somebody when you yourself needed. 

So let's wrap up the episode. 

I want to leave you with a challenge this September. Being suicide prevention month, make a commitment to yourself and to your crew and your family. Start the conversation. Check in with someone who seems off and educate yourself about the mental health resources that you have at your disposal. 

If you want to take this a step further. 

The community over. Keep the promise has the resources that you will need to not just become reselling, but stay resilient. But it builds that we have that community of people where we can make that difference. 

But that's it. That's your call to action. Take these steps. Take them seriously. And remember that you are not alone. You may feel that way, but you are not. So let's continue looking out for each other. Let's continue protecting each other. And. As I always say, let's keep that promise that we made to our communities and to ourselves. So as always, thank you for tuning into this episode. If it resonated with you, please, please, please share it with your fellow firefighters. 

And let's keep this conversation going beyond September because suicide prevention should be an all year round thing.