Special Report: When Heroes Need Saving: Support for firefighters suffering with PTSD

(Update: adding video, comments from Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office, Bend Fire representative)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Firefighters spend long hours on the front lines of daily crises, faced with danger and sometimes, with tragedy. The traumatic situations they face at work day in, day out can take a toll on their mental and physical health.

"The typical fire service professional or volunteer responds on people's worst day, which is their common workday,” said Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal Fire Service Safety Officer Matt Laas.

A 2016 study from the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology reveals that approximately 20% of firefighters and paramedics meet the criteria for PTSD at some point during their career.

Many firefighters across the country suffer from invisible wounds, such as PTSD and other mental health issues.

“Our folks are experiencing those events multiple times a shift when they come into work. Over a 10-, 15-, 20-year career, all of those issues continue to pile up,” said Darren Root, Bend Fire and Rescue's battalion chief of training.

To support firefighters coping with this and other challenges, the Oregon State Fire Marshal is launching the Oregon Fire Service Health and Safety Collaborative.

Root said, “What that means on the on the local level is that we're going to have statewide support for firefighter mental and physical health, well-being.”

A lack of state funding was an issue in the past.

Goals of the new collaborative include coordinating more resources for behavioral and physical health.

“For example, peer support teams, also a database for clinicians and clinics that will provide NFPA 1582 physical health, exams prior to employment into the fire service," Root said.

The collaborative also aims to address incident safety and cancer risk reduction.

Laas explained, “The truth, is firefighters have a higher rate of of cancer than the general population. And there's known exposures to carcinogens on a regular basis.”

The program is being modeled after similar collaboratives in other states, including California, Washington and Florida.

Root said, "Our focus with this collaborative is to really catch these these individuals early on, after an incident and even pre-incident, and giving them tools to work through incidents."

The program is set to begin June 18 with a meeting of stakeholders across the state, including the Oregon Firefighters Council, the Oregon Special Districts Association, Oregon Fire Chief Association, and the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST).

"I'm excited for our firefighters and and what this is going to provide for them," Root said.