Over the last year, more first responders have died by suicide, than in the line of duty. That startling statistic from a recent study has one man pushing for change, by sharing his story.
"It was really hard not to reach for that gun and load it."
Often when you think of PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, you may think of soldiers....But, Frazee firefighter Scott Geiselhart travels the country to make people think about first responders, too.
"There's a lot of firefighters who have symptoms of PTSD and never realized it's PTSD," said Frazee firefighter Scott Geiselhart.
In fact first responders' PTSD and depression rates are five times higher than your everyday person's, according to a recent study on first responders and mental health.
“You can't cut somebody out of a car that's dead and be home in a half an hour and play baseball with your kids,” said Geiselhart.
It was an accident eight years ago that plunged Scott into his battle with PTSD.
"It was a younger guy, we thought we saved him," said Geiselhart.