In 1995, I started on the path of my firefighting career. I started as a scared young kid who knew nothing. In the 20 years since that first fateful day, I have earned every ache and pain that I wake up with every day. Many of my brothers and sisters have had it much worse than me. Those of us in Fire/EMS understand that sometimes aches and pains are just part of the job. Your knees hurt from jumping out of the rig. Your back hurts from lifting patients onto stretchers. It is all just part of the gig. When the pain gets too much, we go see a doctor and get it taken care of. I've spent my time in the chiropractors office, just trying to get my back into some semblance of normalcy. I know plenty of firefighters who have had major surgery to get them back to shape. We hit the gym to try to keep ourselves in a peak physical shape, sometimes it helps. Sometimes, it makes things worse. The six weeks I spent in physical therapy, because I pushed myself too hard trying to run, were not fun. So we all get it, physical pain can be dealt with and we have no problems seeking help. Why then do we have such problems seeking help for mental issues?

I saw my first dead person at the age of 16. I have done CPR on hundreds of patients. I have seen human beings do terrible things to other human beings. That stuff adds up, it just has to. The mental aches and pains are just part of the job right? The difference is that the fire and EMS service is pretty bad at seeking help from mental health professionals. Through research, I have come to believe that almost every member of the fire service is walking around with some form of Post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD). The sleepless nights thinking about bad calls. The bad calls that ruin your whole week. Even the run of the mill calls that just keep you at a certain level of general funk.

So what is PTSD? PTSD is defined by the American Psychiatric Association(APA) as an anxiety disorder. This disorder stems from witnessing, being a victim of, or even hearing about a traumatic stressor. These stressors include death, the threat of death, and serious injury. Sounds pretty much like every shift in the firehouse. Every day fire and EMS personnel are exposed to death and serious injury. Many times we put our very lives on the line to run into a harmful situation.  There are three types of PTSD recognized by the APA. Acute PTSD the symptoms last less than three months. Chronic PTSD the symptoms last longer than three months. Delayed PTSD the onset of symptoms is delayed at least six months from the traumatic stressor.

Symptoms of PTSD can include persistent symptoms of anxiety or increased arousal. Sufferers can experience "pyschic numbing." Pyschic numbing is a diminished response to external stimuli. A sense of doom may develop. Sufferers may become more detached from their emotions and the emotions of others. To top it all off sufferers of PTSD can have hypervigilance, increased irritability, nightmares and anxiety. If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, seek professional help.

The average American population includes less than seven percent sufferers of PTSD. It has been estimated that as high as twenty-four percent of the American fire service is suffering from PTSD. Clearly this is a large problem for our community.  Next time we will be discussing some of the impacts of PTSD on the fire/EMS worker.