The time-sensitive nature of suicide and suicide safety plans are not things spoken of often outside the mental health community. Suicide prevention month is the perfect time to talk about this subject with your firefighters at the company and battalion level.
- Firefighter Suicide: Don’t Normalize It
- Helping Firefighters Deal with a Traumatic Incident
- The Power of Peer Support in the Fire Service
- Commentary: The Mental Mayday
Peer teams and clinicians are amazing resources, but if your department doesn’t have access to them, firefighters can find themselves in that role. As firefighters, we are masters of internalizing our emotions, and when a firefighter commits suicide you often hear people remark: “I just saw them this morning and they seemed fine.” When we talk about suicide we rarely get to hear the stories of those who have fought through attempts; instead, we primarily hear stories of those who have lost their lives by suicide. The stigma of sharing mental health stories often hides the light of those who have made it through. It keeps hope out of reach. If we want to change the outcome of firefighters taking their lives, we have to change how we speak about it. The subject of hope belongs front and center in that conversation. Teaching those who are struggling a more tactical plan that can provide hope, and self-rescue needs to be a louder part of the conversation.
One study asked patients hospitalized after a suicide attempt what the time frame was between their first suicidal thought and the actual attempt. Almost 50% of them said 10 minutes.
Another study showed that 64% of suicide survivors from gunshot wounds reported having a conflict with a loved one prior. While the breakdown on firefighter suicide attempts doesn’t exist in this manner, I can’t help but wonder if our overwhelmingly Type “A” personalities line us up with those same numbers. Or…is it the opposite? Do we intentionally think about it for longer since we’ve seen suicide up close and have witnessed the effects on family members? Either way, it’s a life that’s been cut short too soon. Multiple studies are still showing that we lose more firefighters to suicide than we do line-of-duty deaths.
The premise of a suicide safety plan is simple. It’s a tiered toolbox of skills that can reroute one’s mind and de-escalate a situation. It’s a scalable option that gives you an action plan for when the thoughts are creeping in, or if you find yourself truly standing on that edge, and everything in between those two.
Step One
It starts with knowing your warning signs. Are there certain things—sights, smells, lack of sleep—that put you in a bad mental space? One of the hardest parts of this plan is teaching firefighters when to activate it. “I’ve got this one, I’m fine” is a mentality that’s gotten us all in over our heads in life a time or two. Teaching firefighters to step back and realize when their mind is in an unhealthy state is a key part of this step.
Step Two
This gives a firefighter the chance to handle it “in house” and helps them maintain a sense of privacy. It can also give them a sense of control over a runaway mind. “What can I do that makes these dangerous thoughts go away?” Go for a walk, work out, tinker with a hands-on hobby—or is there nothing? Knowing and acknowledging that this step might not work in that moment is just as important.
Step Three
Phone a friend. We all know that one person who makes us laugh no matter what. The important part is teaching our stubborn firefighter selves that at this step you don’t have to tell anyone what you’re struggling with. You’re just reaching out and making social contact. Maybe it’s walking through a park where other people are or seeing a movie. What can you do around people that will distract you, without having to actually talk about what’s on your mind?
Step Four
This one is a little harder. Who do you trust that you would actually tell that you’re in crisis? This is where we struggle and fail as a profession…that terrifying vulnerability part. Find that one person who you won’t lie to, and who you will tell the whole situation to. Often, we can feel like we’re going to burden someone with our problems. Don’t. They would much rather sit with you and listen versus possibly attending your funeral.
Step Five
Bring in the pros. Do you already speak to a therapist? If so, this is the time to call them. If not, create a list of emergency resources and hotlines that deal with suicidal thoughts and keep them somewhere close by.
Step Six
This one involves painful honesty. Do you have a suicide method in mind? Are there objects around your home that you can use to die by suicide? If the answer is yes, then how can you or someone trustworthy remove them from your environment?
At any point in time, these steps can be skipped if you’re past that point, and you know the next step will be more be effective. A safety plan puts power and resources in your hands in a moment where you’re feeling helpless and hopeless.
We all like to solve problems; it’s what makes us thrive. Knowing how to sit down and write a plan with someone who comes to you for help is an invaluable tool. Consider the above article as simply an awareness level and check out the below resources for a more detailed education on the subject. Our pain doesn’t need to stay in the dark, and with a good plan we can help our people feel that they have a path to healing their minds.
https://sprc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SafetyPlanningGuide-Quick-Guide-for-Clinicians.pdf
Stephanie White is a 19-year veteran of the fire service, and has spent the past 17 years as a professional firefighter/paramedic in a metropolitan fire department. Throughout her career, she has been actively involved in firefighter health and safety as a personal trainer, cancer awareness educator, and a trained mental health peer.
