One of the most meaningful things in safety work is helping others stay injury free, both physically and mentally. One of the hardest parts is bringing up difficult conversations and hard truths, but it fulfills the meaningful part that drives me.
Fifteen plus years ago, while at a Fire Academy, I had a very charismatic and powerful instructor in a RX course. Being energetic and engaging he kept your focused attention and was clearly one of the best teachers I have ever had. He introduced me to a lot of fire based knowledge while burning in the field, broadened my understanding of risk, and what being a High Reliability Organization needs to do for success. In hindsight, a lot of these concepts I have used over the years started in that classroom. A few years later he took his own life.
I thought a lot about how come and why…. of course in the end I had no answers. But the hard truth is this happens arounds us and nationally is the 10th leading cause of death shown in the list below. What his passing taught me was never assume it’s all ok. Knowing the vital signs and symptoms takes knowledge and education for all of us. Even in hindsight it is rarely obvious why it happened so take the time to learn what to look for in some of these links. National Suicide Prevention Week begins on Sunday and goes to the following Saturday. If you needed a reason to start a hard conversation with someone, below (and attached) are some resources and stories that might help you.
The GACC-NIFC site is particularly helpful for the things we deal with here in the Forest Service. It has many tools related to Suicide Warning Signs, Risk and Protective Factors, Facts and Myths, and the Workplace. It may be extremely challenging for you to start these confidential conversations, but it may be one of the most meaningful things you ever do. Be meaningful and break the silence. If you are the one struggling, please reach out to someone, anyone. Just start. The results may start changing life from shades of grey to brighter light. If you need an anonymous contact our EAP is always available (1-800-869-0276). This four-minute video may help both sides break the silence…tomorrow needs you…
Resources
https://gacc.nifc.gov/cism/suicide.html
https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/suicide/index.html
https://afsp.org/campaigns/national-suicide-prevention-week-2018/
https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Suicide-Prevention-Awareness-Month
Stories
- A Quiet Rise in Wildland-Firefighter Suicides
- Suicide in the Wildland Fire Service
- Time to Understand and Act on Wildland Firefighter Suicide
US Deaths by cause in 2016
Heart disease: 633,842
Cancer: 595,930
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 155,041
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 146,571
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 140,323
Alzheimer’s disease: 110,561
Diabetes: 79,535
Influenza and Pneumonia: 57,062
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis: 49,959
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 44,193
What You Can Do
Please promote suicide prevention week, share broadly, or forward to those who can help us promote this within the Forest Service and beyond.
“Survive and Thrive - You Matter - You Are Not Alone - Help is Available”
Chris Joosen is the Safety and Health Manager for the Mount Hood National Forest. We appreciate his willingness to share his story with our readers. All thoughts and reflections are those of the author.
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