By Christine Pao and Jana Tran

Firefighting is one of the most dangerous and stressful occupations in the world. Day in and day out, firefighters place themselves in harm’s way to come to the rescue of those in need. First responders such as firefighters are exposed to trauma as a natural and unavoidable part of their work. For this reason, firefighters need to be incredibly resilient.

But what is it, exactly, that makes firefighters’ jobs so stressful? In many large fire departments, firefighters are not merely responding to fire calls; their job is much more complex and varied. Firefighters in large urban fire departments, such as the Houston (TX) Fire Department (HFD), are expected to answer emergency medical services calls as well. This means that putting out fires is not the only requirement of their job; often, firefighters must respond to motor vehicle accidents, burn victims, severely injured victims, and violent deaths. On the job, it’s very likely that firefighters will face a number of different traumatic situations.

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What does your department do or offer to help you postively deal with post traumatic stress?