Whether it’s a burning building or an active shooter, first responders run toward the danger, not away from it. But some may be ignoring a potentially deadly threat.
Yearly firefighter and police officer suicide rates often rival line of duty deaths. A new survey shared exclusively with CBS 58 Investigates sheds light on the mental wellbeing of first responders in Wisconsin.
In partnership with Rogers Behavioral Health, the Fire Fighters Foundation developed a 32-question survey which was made accessible to all professional and volunteer fire and EMS professionals across the state of Wisconsin from Dec. 4, 2020 to Jan. 8, 2021. Doctor Kelly Piacsek is vice president of research for Rogers Behavioral Health, she says the results of this survey could open up new strategies.
“The questions about suicidal ideation and self-harm are definitely ones that we need to do more work on,” she said.