Jaeson Daniels’ first day as a DeKalb County firefighter in 2007 still sometimes haunts him.
He remembers seeing drivers caught in a snarl of traffic on I-20. Moments later, he was ordered to respond to a crash site on the interstate. A woman was seriously injured and unrestrained inside a vehicle that was just outside the guardrail, he recalled.
“I remember a lot of things to this day. I know the smells that were in the back of the ambulance,” said Daniels, a captain in the DeKalb fire department. “There was a song going on in the front of the ambulance that I can still remember playing while we were en route to the hospital. I can see the shoes that the young lady had on.”
He called the experience exhilarating. But as days went by, the trauma he witnessed began to take a toll on him, and Daniels said he wasn’t sure how to deal with his emotions.
That’s the reality of being a first responder, facing traumatic events and withholding emotions to do the job. But sometimes the trauma goes home with you. For years, it’s a topic that was rarely addressed.
Firefighters face an increased risk of suicide due to job-related stress and depression, a 2021 federal study found. Some organizations report that more than 100 firefighters nationwide commit suicide each year, but federal officials acknowledge potential data gaps as some departments may be hesitant to share figures due to the stigma and patient confidentiality.
Credit: John Spink
Credit: John Spink
In recent years, firefighters have been encouraged to discuss workplace trauma, which officials claim helps them process it instead of letting it smolder. Authorities in Atlanta and DeKalb said firefighters will debrief after every call and are urged to seek extra support from peers, leadership, chaplains and other resources such as therapy.
Carla Moore, chief psychologist for Atlanta’s Public Safety Behavioral Health Wellness Unit, said firefighters experience increased stress during emotionally intense calls, particularly those involving death or children. First responders need to address their feelings to maintain mental stability and well-being, Moore said.
“They usually talk about it within the station, not ever really processing it in a therapeutic fashion or a way that kind of opens it up, because to open it up means I actually have to talk about it more. So usually it’s repressed or just completely ignored altogether,” she explained.
What triggers stress
Starting as a recruit with the Danville Fire Department in Virginia in 1983 and later joining Atlanta Fire Rescue in 2005, Roosevelt Johns anticipated facing trauma daily and assisting people on their worst days.
Sometime in the late 1990s, Johns responded to a fiery crash in Danville involving a teenager who was killed. His child was about the same age and Johns couldn’t help but think: That could be my child.
That call has stuck with him ever since. He described it as a moment he realized the mental impact of being a firefighter.
“We say often that the firefighter who comes in on the first year is a different person after about five years,” Johns said.
Johns, who since 2013 has been serving as a chaplain with the Atlanta fire department, said there used to be a stigma about being impacted by a call, and openly discussing it was not encouraged. Firefighters were expected to develop what he calls “tough skin” and not let incidents weigh them down.
“One of the things that I think is paramount is that we talk about it because historically we did not,” he said. “But nowadays, we do try to encourage people to at least talk about those circumstances among your peers.”
Johns serves as a listening ear to crew members after emotionally intense calls, and has had countless firefighters come to him regarding changes in personality and relational issues.
Understanding the impact
Moore said not processing one’s emotions after a traumatic event is usually how prolonged stress, behavioral and mental health conditions, or other unhealthy habits begin.
According to a 2018 paper by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, about 30% of first responders develop behavioral health conditions, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, compared to 20% of the general population.
Moore emphasized the importance of new firefighters knowing what to expect and how to work through trauma. She said firefighters undergo mental wellness screenings, are provided psychoeducation, and receive external referrals for therapists and other medical professionals.
“The goal is to from the minute a person walks in as a recruit to get them to understand, just like you have to stay physically fit so that you can carry that hose, you have to stay mentally fit in order to sustain your mental health in doing this job,” she said.
Personality changes are often the first sign a firefighter is dealing with unresolved trauma. Officials explained that getting to work late, appearing disheveled, isolating oneself and having a short temper are some indicators. Johns and Daniels said that a firefighter may not realize that stress has changed them, but those close to them will notice.
Though Daniels and Johns both said they regularly speak with close friends after tough jobs, Daniels claimed that his personality has changed. When faced with a problem, he immediately wants to fix it, fearing that something worse could come out of it.
“I’m a problem solver. Once we get on scene, people expect us to have a solution. ... When I’m presented with a problem, I immediately attempt to come up with some type of fix for it,” he said, adding that “in a family situation or family household, that can be a problem sometimes.”
Resilience
Daniels said he often becomes a counselor to victims and their families, helping them comprehend the tragedy they’ve faced.
“We get the brunt of the gore, the mental stress that goes with it. We have the family members screaming in the background, we have the kids sitting on the couch not understanding why their parent or their loved one isn’t moving or isn’t responding,” Daniels said.
Just like victims have to come to terms with death in those circumstances, Johns explained that firefighters must recognize their own limits: It’s not always possible to save everyone. Guilt is a feeling Johns said many firefighters struggle with at the start of their careers.
Overcoming those emotional challenges is eased by engaging in self-care and spending time with friends and family. With the right tools in place, most firefighters are resilient, officials agreed.
“We as firefighters, we are very resilient and we understand that this is something that we chose to do,” Daniels said. “When duty calls, we are going to respond and respond appropriately because it’s not about us, it’s about the person who called us for help.”
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