Tag Archives: PTSD and firefighters

When I last wrote a post for Fire & EMS Leader Pro (March 2017), I was freshly retired from my 32-year career. I was between therapists. I wasn’t taking any medication for my new friend depression. I was, in a nutshell, miserable.

Do any of you know a firefighter who’s completed an Ironman Triathlon in full PPE with an SCBA unit on their back? I do, and her name is Diana Woolf. Check out her story here and see why she does it.

This whole PTSD thing is more than what any shrink could possibly tell us. Seriously. They all know the basics of it, the science of it, the consequences and more of it. Hey! They even made a nice medical chart, like a checklist of symptoms to be able to diagnose this injury… but what the hell do they do with us after? Do they really get it?

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer Addiction treatment for firefighters and EMS personnel in an atmosphere that provides respect, safety and security for those seeking help. Along with top-notch mental health and addiction treatment professionals. Every day that I wake up on the “right side of the grass” is a good day, and last Friday was a great day! After ...

I drove through the burn scar of a different fire from the previous summer. I noticed the thick grass crop and the brush skeletons and then, suddenly filled with extreme anxiety, I wanted to escape from the truck.

Retired battalion chief Robert Avsec shares insights and comments from PTSD sufferers in an effort to raise awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding PTSD and other mental health issues for firefighters and EMS personnel.

Recently, we have seen an increase in awareness for the impact mental health issues have on fire service members. The following is a brief explanation of how depression, the most frequent aspect of firefighter mental distress, can appear.This also shows what all of us can do to help change the impact of depression on ourselves and others.

Going public, speaking about it before groups of firefighters, having a “speaker” Facebook page for those who wished to follow my journey and how you can heal from PTS and PTSD, this created a whole new barrier for me in searching for a new job.