Monday, January 30, 2012
L.A. County firefighters help each other cope with toughest part of the job By Christina Villacorte, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/29/2012 09:46:26 PM PST
Updated: 01/30/2012 01:26:53 PM PST
Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Scott Ross, right, talks over issues with Firefighter Richard Conejo, left, who was recently affected by the death of a fellow firefighter. They meet under the auspices of the L.A. County Fire Department's Peer Support Program. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)
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Sometimes, heroes need saving too.
Firefighter Richard Conejo fell into depression after a fellow firefighter, Glenn Allen, perished in a blaze at a Hollywood Hills home almost a year ago.
"I had nightmares and could hardly eat," Conejo said.
The men had been standing only a few feet apart when the ceiling collapsed on Allen. Conejo performed CPR but the 61-year-old veteran died days later, just missing the birth of his first grandchild.
It was all too much for Conejo, 36, particularly the thought of how he himself barely escaped. He and his wife had been planning to start a family.
"When I got home, that's what made me break down and cry," Conejo said.
That's when the Los Angeles County Fire Department's peer support program jumps in.
Over the past 25 years, specially trained firefighters have helped their "brothers" handle the strain inevitable in a job that requires rushing into burning buildings, hanging from helicopters to pluck people out of swollen rivers, and prying open train wrecks to look for survivors.
"Firefighters are this macho crew who think, `We've got to be tough,' but the bottom line is we're all human," said fire Capt. Scott Ross, a team leader in the program who reached out to the despondent Conejo.
"The stuff that we see on a daily basis, all the tragedy and suffering, it can be overwhelming," Ross added. "There's a breaking point in everybody."
For more go to http://www.dailynews.com/health/ci_19849684
