First responders providing emergency medical services routinely face high rates of depression, burnout and suicidal thoughts. The added stress of the pandemic is making it worse.
Speaking at a Wisconsin EMS Association town hall meeting on Thursday, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, said she is working with a group of Democratic senators on legislation that would boost mental health services in the COVID-19 relief legislation that’s being debated in Congress.
"In addition to my reliance on input from constituents who are seeing issues of depression, anxiety and (post-traumatic stress disorder) rise at alarming rates during the pandemic, we also relied on a lot of national experts to try to identify what can be done now to supplement the mental health work force and to deal with the fact that many people are dealing with these struggles in isolation," Baldwin told the gathering of EMS workers from around the state.