The Wausau Fire Department is working to make sure mental health, wellness, and staffing shortages are a top priority for the department.
This comes after Chief Bob Barteck, reviewed the fire department and asked staff about the things they would like to see changed.
“Fire and EMS service is an extremely stressful job,” said Chief Barteck. “They can witness a lot of tragedy throughout their career. They work very long hours.”
Chief Barteck said there is a direct correlation between the number of hours worked and a decline in mental health. “And in our trade the more hours you work, it’s the exhaustion level, it’s the higher call volumes you see during that period of time,” said Chief Barteck.
Barteck encourages his staff to speak up when they are experiencing a decline in mental health.