Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is sometimes called the invisible wound. PTSD represents one illness that has varying degrees of symptoms. Most firefighters and other first responders are susceptible to getting PTSD because it’s caused by a stressful, frightening, or distressful event, or prolonged exposure to traumatic experiences. All people have various levels of emotional resilience, which is why some firefighters are more susceptible to acquiring PTSD than some other firefighters. Just as military personnel may have little or no exposure to trauma depending on their job assignments, firefighters also have disparate levels of resilience based on their level of ...
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The citizens of our nation owe a world of gratitude to our first responders for the stressful and difficult jobs that they perform in saving lives every day. Unfortunately, the chronic nature of job stress is more than many first responders can manage without finding ways to decompress the emotional and physical toll that it takes on their bodies. Many first responders turn to having a few drinks or experimenting with drugs to help them find a little homeostasis after a rough call, never thinking that it could turn into an addiction. The rate of addictions among all first responders ...
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People serving in the Public Safety sector are used to acronyms. Codes for various situations, responses, and treatments exist in every department. If you transfer from one department to another, it can almost feel like you have landed in a foreign country. One acronym that everyone is familiar with these days is PTSD-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. While many people have heard the term, there is a misconception about what PTSD represents. PTSD is the result of a single or chronic exposure to a traumatic event. This event(s) can range from car accidents, shootings, abuse, rape, or any situation where ...
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Frontline’s (www.frontlinerehab.com)Very Own Mark Lamplugh kicks off his first show of “Firefighter Wellness Radio” for Fire Engineering Blog Talk. Mark Lamplugh is a fourth-generation firefighter and former captain with the Lower Chichester (PA) Fire Company. He was the Chief Executive Officer of 360 Wellness Inc. (http://www.360wellness.org/) and is currently the Vice President with Advanced Health & Education (www.advhealth.com) and their Frontline Program (www.frontlinerehab.com). Lamplugh is also nationally recognized in Crisis Stress Intervention through the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. He has helped hundreds of firefighters, police officers, veterans, EMS personnel, and civilians nationwide find help for addiction, alcoholism, PTSD, and ...
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At bars, restaurants and homes across America, many adults enjoy alcoholic beverages responsibly. However, there are those for whom drinking becomes a deadly addiction that sours personal and professional relationships and endangers lives. It’s no small number, either – according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, nearly 18 million adults have an alcohol use disorder. Firefighters are disproportionately affected. Among the 112 career firefighters surveyed in the study “Sleep Problems, Depression, Substance Use, Social Bonding, and Quality of Life in Professional Firefighters,” 80% used alcohol (averaging about one to two drinks per day), 56% binge drank (four or more ...
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Feelings and Emotions We all have issues at work that we have difficulty leaving in the ‘office.’ Businessmen and women in charge of large financial accounts feel the stress of a plunge in the stock market. Lawyers walk around with the weight that they were unable to convince a jury of someone’s wrongdoing, and now that person was free and back in society. A paramedic will go home wondering if they had done anything different or faster, would that patient still be alive? Law enforcement officers are no different. Faced day after day with witnessing the lowest points in people’s ...
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I have been a police officer, detective, member of a regional drug task force, member of a DEA narcotics task force, and Chief of Police. I am also a heroin addict. This story is neither a historical justification nor a self-indictment, but rather a cautionary tale. If in 2004 someone had told me that I was to become an addict, I would have laughed in their face. If only my loved ones and I received education in addiction, maybe things would have gone differently. Maybe my huge house and three car garage would still be mine. Maybe my professional reputation ...
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Addiction Doesn’t Discriminate The words ‘law enforcement officer’ and ‘addict’ seem opposed. Part of the tasks officers face is to stop the distribution and use of drugs. Many of the people they come to know daily are in the middle of one addiction or another. Just like the myth that addiction only strikes the down-and-out, it is a misconception that law enforcement officials are immune to becoming addicts. Moreover, while it is true that some choose to engage in illegal behavior, the majority come because of a work-related injury. With the physical nature of the job and risks of injury, ...
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We all have had rough shifts. Maybe it was only one call. Alternatively, perhaps you have had months of nothing but the worst. Maybe you are looking back over a career full of bad calls. As a firefighter, it is your job to step in and help people in situations that might be the worst moment in their life. However, what happens when the call is over, and your shift is done? You can’t just drop the images alongside your boots and walk away. Deciding how to process those tough calls can make or break you. Not all Kitty Cats ...
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Working As a Firefigher With PTSD – Smoke in the air. The blaring alarm. Every firefighter knows the rush of emotions that fill the heart when it’s time to roll. Excitement. Anticipation. Fear. Is this the Big One? Is today the day my number’s up? However, in the gung-ho fire environment, too often the feelings that haunt us are pushed down to the bottom. Nobody wants to look weak in front of his or her teammates. Nobody wants to be “that Guy”. So we repress, force a grim smile, and get back to work. The things we’ve seen stay with ...
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