September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a time to reflect on the behavioral health struggles that affect people across all walks of life, including the first responders who dedicate their careers to protecting our communities. Among this community, however, there’s a disturbing and often overlooked truth: More firefighters die by suicide than in the...Read More
Years after her 21-year-old son, who was on a career path to be a firefighter, took his life, Renee Ross is talking with first responders about his death. Ross said Riley Redding missed a certification deadline which would push his career goals – to become a Wolfforth firefighter – back a year. That was the...Read More
Data, statistics and detailed reports tell us there are many things that can kill a wildland firefighter. Aircraft accidents, vehicle crashes, heart attacks, hit-by hazards and burnovers are known and studied causes of death. We have rapid lessons sharing, safetygrams, safecoms and the invaluable work of the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center to help us...Read More
911 call center dispatchers help us at our most dire moments, and we expect them to do it calmly and professionally. In St. Joseph County, dispatchers will soon get some help themselves. We rely on calling 911 in an emergency and getting immediate, accurate help. But what happens to the person on the other end...Read More
CINCINNATI (WKRC) – First responders are trained to save others while putting their own lives on the line. Many of the challenges they face after a call are often hidden from the public eye. “You see things that I would describe as unimaginable,” said Colerain Township Fire DepartmentChief Allen Walls. The different scenes that first...Read More
By Eden Gillespie, ABC: Men involved in ringing a bell when “attractive” female recruits walked by so everyone “could have a look” were never formally disciplined by the Queensland Fire Department (QFD) for their behaviour. An ABC investigation has confirmed the incidents at the combined emergency services training academy in Whyte Island were substantiated by the...Read More
